FAQ
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What is the warranty on the Whole House Fans?
For our CentricAir whole house fans, Central Valley Whole House Fans offers a 15-year warranty on the fan motor from the date of purchase, covering defects or failures when used as instructed in the user manual. Other components, such as switches, include a one-year parts warranty. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and while issues are rare, we are committed to ensuring our clients are fully satisfied with their whole house fan purchase.
The QA-Deluxe whole house fan system—including the motor, housing, damper, ducting, and control—is covered by a 10-year warranty from the original installation date against defects in materials and workmanship. If a defect occurs, the faulty part will be repaired or replaced under warranty. Please keep your dated invoice as proof of purchase for any warranty claims.
Additionally, the QA-Deluxe fan is warrantied against material or workmanship defects for the specified time period. Under this Limited Warranty, we will either repair the product with new or refurbished parts or replace it with a new or refurbished unit. "Refurbished" refers to a product or part restored to its original specifications. Any replaced product or component is covered for 90 days from the replacement date or through the remainder of the original warranty—whichever is longer.
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What are my payment options?
We accept Visa, Discover and Master Card.
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Can I use my smart phone to control my Whole House Fan?
Many of our customers use third-party smart plugs, such as WeMo, Amazon, and Google, to control their Central Valley Whole House Fan. A key advantage of Central Valley Whole House Fan systems is that they are designed to plug into a standard wall outlet, making them easy to integrate with smart home devices. However, please note that Central Valley Whole House Fan models equipped with our Cold Climate Dampers are NOT compatible with smart plugs.
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Do I need a whole house fan even though i have air contditioning?
Absolutely! During hot summer days, the attic traps intense heat, which continues to radiate into your home throughout the late afternoon and evening. This puts extra strain on your air conditioning, as it struggles to counteract the rising heat. Since cold air settles at lower levels while hot air rises, air conditioning alone often results in a cool downstairs and an uncomfortably warm upstairs, making it an inefficient cooling solution.
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What is a whole house fan?
A whole house fan is a ventilation system designed to remove hot air from both the living space and attic of a home. It is often mistaken for an attic fan, which solely vents hot air from the attic to the outdoors at a low velocity through a gable vent or roof opening.
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Is a whole house fan the same as an attic fan?
A whole house fan can cool your entire home, including the attic, and can greatly reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning. In contrast, attic fans are smaller units mounted on the gable or roof of your house. These fans usually operate with a thermostat in the attic to remove hot air, but they don’t have a major effect on the temperature inside the home.
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How expensive are whole house fans to run?
Operating a whole house fan costs only about 10% of what it takes to run a typical residential air conditioner.
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What size whole house fan do I need?
We recommend that clients choose the largest whole house fan their home’s attic ventilation can support. For example, a 2200 sqft two-story home typically has enough attic ventilation for our CentricAir 2.7 model, which requires about 3.25 sqft of net free attic ventilation. However, if the same home has enough ventilation for our CentricAir 3.4 model, which needs around 4.0 sqft of net free attic ventilation, it might be worth considering. While it’s only slightly more expensive, the larger model will cool your home more quickly. We do not, however, recommend adding extra roof ventilation just to accommodate a larger fan.
To find out the required attic or roof ventilation for any Central Valley Whole House Fan, feel free to call us. We’ll happily guide you on how to measure your attic ventilation, and our professional advice is always free.
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Are Whole House Fans Noisy?
The motors in our systems are precision-balanced and acoustically engineered for exceptionally smooth and quiet operation. But we didn’t stop there. Instead of using standard air conditioning ducting with plastic lining, we use sound-absorbing (Quiet Flex) ductwork, which better absorbs vibration and sound compared to traditional ducting.
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How Long Does it Take to Install a Whole House Fan?
Most Central Valley Whole House Fans are installed in just a few hours. In rare cases, installation may take a bit longer, but this is uncommon.
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How much Ventilation do i need for my Whole House Fan?
Each of our Whole House Fans has a specified requirement for attic ventilation. Please refer to the Specification tab for the product you’re interested in for more details.
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Can I put the whole house fan on a thermostat so that it will turn on automatically?
Technically, yes, but we don’t recommend it. For the home ventilation system to work properly, windows need to be open. If your whole house fan turns on automatically and the windows are closed, it could draw air from your fireplace, potentially causing ash and soot to stain your furniture and carpets. Since the cooling effect happens almost instantly, there’s no need to run the system before you arrive home.
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How Do whole house fans work?
A whole house fan works by drawing cool, fresh air in through open windows or doors and expelling hot, stale air through attic and roof vents. In many climates, using a whole house fan to cool your home can replace the need for air conditioning for most of the year.
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How many windows should I leave open and which ones?
It’s recommended to open two or more windows halfway or more to allow the ventilation system to pull in air efficiently. For optimal airflow, open windows that are far from the fan to cool the entire house. Alternatively, you can target specific areas by opening windows in the rooms you want to cool. For instance, if the upstairs bedrooms are the warmest, open the windows in those rooms and keep the downstairs windows closed.
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What if my wireless remote control stops working or I loose it?
A unique feature of Central Valley Whole house Fans is that the receiver for the remote control is separate from the fan itself. This design allows the fan to plug into the receiver, and the receiver then plugs into a standard electrical outlet. We made this choice to ensure that it’s easy for our clients to replace the remote control and receiver if needed.