QuietCool QC CL-4700 Original Classic Whole House Fan - Energy Efficient Cooling Solution for Homes, Bedrooms & Living Rooms

Climate and Economic ConsiderationsI live in San Diego, California within eyesight of the Pacific Ocean. The night air here is a comfortable temperature even on the hottest days, only rarely staying muggy through the night. Our electric power costs are outrageous: I pay 27 cents per KWh for the first 334 KWh, then the costs jumps to 48 cents. Beyond 1,080 KWh in a given billing cycle, the rate increases to 55 cents.My electric bill for 7/1- 8/8 this year showed 610 KWh of usage with a cost of $233.86, by far the highest I have had to pay since I had 2.5 KW worth of rooftop solar panels installed in 2010. At 2:00 AM the day after I received that bill, it was 84 degrees in most of my house while two small window A/C units were struggling to keep sleeping areas tolerable. Outside, it was about 75 degrees. At that moment I decided to take a serious look at whole-house fans. I did the math, and in under an hour I determined that the QuietCool CL-3100 was the right size for my house and would probably pay for itself in two years or less! My sleep-deprived, heat-addled brain was stunned by this revelation at 3:00 AM. I finally got some sleep, and by 8:00 AM I ordered the system after drinking my daily coffee and reviewing the numbers.This type of system definitely makes sense in coastal Southern California. It might not be as good a fit for a climate that has hot, humid nights and less expensive power. As an example I looked at Houston, TX and was shocked to see that people typically pay between about 7 and 12 cents per KWh. I've spent enough time there to know that the summer night air is often uncomfortably hot. I do not believe that a whole-house fan would be as beneficial there as it is in San Diego, though it might be useful during spring and fall months.InstallationThis fan system is well-made, easy for a handy person (like me) to install, and moves a lot of air. Rated at 320 watts (on the high speed setting) it uses a fraction of the power of two small window air conditioners I have been using for several years, which are rated at 520 watts each. I haven't done the permanent wiring yet, but the mechanical installation took me just four hours without assistance from cracking open the manual to having a running fan system in my attic. I expect to spend a total of about 3-4 hours installing the proper wiring, including drywall repair and paint. I plan to tap into an existing circuit as the power source.I considered knocking off one-half star for the manufacturer not including some items that are essential for a proper installation of this system, specifically a single-pole, double-throw switch, a countdown timer, a length of armored cable, and a second metal handy box and cable clamps that a typical installation will require. OTOH one size would not fit all situations. Some might prefer to install the fan on a 20-amp circuit, so the switch rating, cable gauge and length, etc. are not predictable. Therefore this fan gets the full five stars.THE DOCUMENTATION THAT COMES WITH THIS FAN IS VERY GOOD. IT IS AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE. READ IT AND WATCH THE MANUFACTURER'S VIDEOS BEFORE YOU BUY AND AGAIN BEFORE YOU BEGIN INSTALLATION!!!My wiring project took longer than expected because I had to get into a difficult area of my attic and drill a hole in a top plate, but it came out fine and I didn't burn down my house or get electrocuted.Factors to consider - Think carefully and do the math!Anyone who is contemplating this type of fan should carefully consider the applicability of a whole-house fan to your specific situation:- Is the night air after a hot day sufficiently cool to make you comfortable if you pull it into your living space?- How much per month are you spending on air conditioning?- How many nights per year would a whole-house fan work as well as or better than your A/C, and what is the expected cost savings of running the fan instead of A/C?- Does your attic have sufficient out-flow ventilation such as gable vents, turrets, etc.? If not, you should take into consideration the cost of upgrading your ventilation. A whole-house fan cannot operate efficiently without adequate attic ventilation. The information for determining this is available on QuietCool's Web site.- How big is your house (square feet of living space?) This is important in deciding which model of fan to buy.- Are you capable of doing the mechanical installation yourself, or with a helpful friend, or will you need to hire someone? The fan with including ducting is rather heavy and unwieldy. Lifting it into the attic was the only part of my installation where an assistant would have been very helpful. (I'm 60 years old and have to admit that this installation would have been a lot easier 20 years ago.)- Are you proficient at electrical wiring? If not, prepare to enlist the services of a kind friend or a professional. (I happen to be very comfortable with it, and have re-wired most of my house.)In summary, buying and installing a QuietCool fan was such an obviously beneficial decision given my locale and the construction of my house. My only regret is not having done it several years ago. It works exactly as advertised, and is much quieter than some less expensive systems I have seen in other peoples' homes. The noise level is quite tolerable for me on the high speed setting. I am looking forward to finishing the wiring, and trying the low speed and automatic shutoff.Read the manual and do your homework before you buy!***** Technical Note added after completing the wiring *****The video on wiring a 2-speed fan with an electronic timer has a couple of continuity problems (ha ha.) It does not explicitly say to, nor does it show, including the white wire or the green wire from the timer when connecting the whites (neutrals) and green/bare wires (grounds.) Anyone who has ever wired anything SHOULD know to do that, and if you don't you probably shouldn't take on this wiring project. If you follow the video exactly, you will end up with a stray white wire and a stray green wire. That's bad. The DIAGRAM in the manual is correct.***** Follow-Up Note added 7/27/2019 *****I wish to thank Lucky Dog for his thoughtful comment. I agree that it may make sense to have more than one fan, depending on the layout of your home, whether you need to keep interior doors closed, etc.After nearly a year in service, I am still very pleased with the QuietCool fan's performance and quality. I have no regrets at all. (However, I do wish I had purchased about one more KW worth of solar panels when I did that project.) My Tier 1 electric rate has increased from 27 cents/KWh to 28.8, so everything I can do to reduce power consumption pays off. I have had no problems at all with the system.After reviewing some of the negative comments posted in the last year I believe there are two common threads:1. Some dissatisfied people appear to have purchased fans too small for their homes, and2. I suspect that some of them don't have enough outflow capacity for their attics.I reiterate my recommendations to fully analyze your situation and carefully read the documentation before making this purchase.I read a lot of reviews before purchasing this fan. I already had a whole house fan that was probably leas than half the size of this one and about 100 times louder. I bought the old one at Home Depot many years ago. The main purpose for purchasing this new fan was to reduce noise and to increase air flow. My house is about 2500 square feet and is two stories.First things first, I have a large attic but most of it is short and I have to crawl on my hands and knees to get around. I also have excellent ventilation in the eves that allows for proper airflow to escape. I live in SoCal so the nights are cool and the days are warm.Instillation: I am pretty handy but still asked my brother in law who is an electrician to help me. Thank god I did because there is no way I could have done this myself considering the space we had to work with and the lifting we had to do. The unit is heavy and took two of us to get it into the attic. We had to take the ducting off in order to make it fit. It took us about 4 hours start to finish but that includes removing the old fan that was near the location of the new fan. I would say we spent a good 3 hours on installing the new fan, which included cutting drywall etc.Quality: the overall quality is good but the doors that open and close with the airflow once you turn the fan on or off the fan are a bit on the cheap side. There was also a crease or ripple in the metal we had to bend back into shape before installing it. I will say I was a little disappointed in the flimsy vent doors. The fan itself seems to be very durable. It’s heavy and sturdy. I like that it came with a long cord that plugs into a regular outlet. I read a review that suggested plugging the fan into a WiFi switch in your attic and let me tell you, that was the most amazing idea. I can turn the fan on and off right from my phone anywhere I am that has cell coverage or WiFi. It does remove the multi speed option but we learned that high is the perfect setting for us anyway. It provides the perfect amount of airflow.Airflow: we opted for the 6000 model which I am very pleased to report provides a very good amount of airflow and cools the house down very quickly. Way better than our old fan which was probably a 1200 Compared to the 6000 we have now…huge difference.Noise: the way our attic is situated, the fan is directly above our living room where we watch TV. There is a vaulted ceiling and the fan is directly above that. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the loudest, the noise level is about a 2 or 3. I wish it was a bit quieter but compared to the last fan we had (which I rate at a noise level of 8) we can now watch TV with the fan on and can hear what they are saying. The last fan had to be turned off in order to watch TV. It was very loud! If my attic was taller than 3 to 4 feet, I am confident we would not be able to hear it as much.Cost: I would say the fan is a little on the pricey side but well worth it if you live in an area that gets cool at night. It’s hot during the day so we keep the windows closed and then in the evening we turn on the house fan after it gets below about 72 degrees. During the night the house gets very cool and keeps it cool for most of the day if not the entire day. On very hot days we do have to run the A/C for a few hours until it gets cool outside. Overall it has drastically reduced our A/C usage. Even from having the last fan, this one works much faster and more efficient.Overall, I am very happy with our purchase and would highly recommend this product. Key take aways….live in an area that is cool at night, have a friend, preferably a handy person, help with installation, and lastly get a bigger size than you think you’ll need. I hope this review helps.1. I'm a careful shopper, and consider this fan worth trying out.2. Here in New Jersey, summer nights can be humid and not too cool. The fan was still worth it, not so much to cool the house significantly, but more to create a nice refreshing breeze. Air in fully sealed houses can get super stuffy and stale. The cooling only seems to happen when it is mid to high 60's F outside.3. For a 2200 sq ft house the CL4700 seems very adequate.4. If you're budget limited, and can tinker around a bit, consider buying a separate fan / duct / vent from one of the big home improvement stores. Those vents may not be that great, but closing the opening positively with plywood once in the fall, and opening it in summer isn't too difficult.5. (See photo): the nearby joists were near vertical. So I got some stud brackets, a piece of 2x4, and square U bolts to hang the fan. Nylon lock nuts, and backed up by a few strong cable ties for extra protection.6. The fan is very heavy! Consider hanging it by a rope, without the duct attached, and maneuver it in place.7. For the vent, a reviewer has already posted a photo of how to make a frame with 2x4s, rather than mounting the heavy vent directly into drywall (Thank you!).This is exactly as described, which never happens anymore. I finally bought this after my son bought a house with one installed and I saw what a difference it made. This was easy to install and is so very quiet. I run it every morning, bringing my house in sunny California down to 71 degrees. Then I close up the windows and doors and my AC does not kick on until about 5pm. About 7pm I open all the doors and windows and run the fan again, sometimes on low all night. This thing is worth every dollar spent, and little bit of sweat from putting in the attic on the hottest day. :)I received the large box with the CL-4700. It was shipped from the US so it took a while to get here. Today I opened the box with the intention of spending the day installing it... unfortunately the frame that contains the dampers is badly bent on two side. Paint is missing even though there was nothing but cardboard that could rub against it; this tells me that it was boxed up like this. Not impressed as I can't simply go to home depot and exchange it. I will try and straighten it out but for the money I spent on this I shouldn't have to work with damaged goods. Not impressed Quietcool!it really works!