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Posted by z on July 31, 2009, 12:29 am
this had been bugging me for a while. roof-mushroom style attic fan
with junction-box style adjustable thermostat, looks pretty old and
like it had been maintained periodically by drunken chimps, wrong
sized sheet metal screws sticking out, etc; making me suspicious.
attic seemed overly warm on summer days. usual 1950s attic insulation,
i.e. less than currently recommended, meaning hot attic generating hot
house.
so, stuck a remote reading outdoor thermometer up there. gets up to
120+. seemed too high. took second look at fan setup. despite physical
appearance, seemed to be working OK every time I check on it. fan
capacity OK. twiddled around with thermostat settings, figured maybe
somebody had screwed up the calibration. remote thermometer still
showing 120+ up there on hot day. look at fan some more, it's running
OK every time I check. maybe thermostat is intermittent? finally wire
up boom box to thermostat and turn it up loud so i can tell from
downstairs when thermostat is opening and closing, with remote
thermometer to indicate temperature
answer comes very quickly when i come down from attic. turns out fan
is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
soon as i get down and turn the attic light off, music stops. turn
light on, music starts again. this, despite big clearly labeled (and
working) fan shutoff switch in attic.
haha.
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Posted by JIMMIE on July 31, 2009, 5:26 am
show/hide quoted text
> this had been bugging me for a while. roof-mushroom style attic fan
> with junction-box style adjustable thermostat, looks pretty old and
> like it had been maintained periodically by drunken chimps, wrong
> sized sheet metal screws sticking out, etc; making me suspicious.
> attic seemed overly warm on summer days. usual 1950s attic insulation,
> i.e. less than currently recommended, meaning hot attic generating hot
> house.
> so, stuck a remote reading outdoor thermometer =A0up there. gets up to
> 120+. seemed too high. took second look at fan setup. despite physical
> appearance, seemed to be working OK every time I check on it. fan
> capacity OK. twiddled around with thermostat settings, figured maybe
> somebody had screwed up the calibration. remote thermometer still
> showing 120+ up there on hot day. look at fan some more, it's running
> OK every time I check. maybe thermostat is intermittent? finally wire
> up boom box to thermostat and turn it up loud so i can tell from
> downstairs when thermostat is opening and closing, with remote
> thermometer to indicate temperature
> answer comes very quickly when i come down from attic. turns out fan
> is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
> soon as i get down and turn the attic light off, music stops. turn
> light on, music starts again. this, despite big clearly labeled (and
> working) fan shutoff switch in attic.
> haha.
Doesnt surprise me. Usually its not an electrician who wires them in
so they get connected to the first place that looks like it has power.
Jimmie
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Posted by sligoNoSPAMjoe on July 31, 2009, 8:28 am
wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> turns out fan
>is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
Yea, that is not the first one I have heard about.
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Posted by Ulysses on July 31, 2009, 10:40 am
show/hide quoted text
> this had been bugging me for a while. roof-mushroom style attic fan
> with junction-box style adjustable thermostat, looks pretty old and
> like it had been maintained periodically by drunken chimps, wrong
> sized sheet metal screws sticking out, etc; making me suspicious.
> attic seemed overly warm on summer days. usual 1950s attic insulation,
> i.e. less than currently recommended, meaning hot attic generating hot
> house.
> so, stuck a remote reading outdoor thermometer up there. gets up to
> 120+. seemed too high. took second look at fan setup. despite physical
> appearance, seemed to be working OK every time I check on it. fan
> capacity OK. twiddled around with thermostat settings, figured maybe
> somebody had screwed up the calibration. remote thermometer still
> showing 120+ up there on hot day. look at fan some more, it's running
> OK every time I check. maybe thermostat is intermittent? finally wire
> up boom box to thermostat and turn it up loud so i can tell from
> downstairs when thermostat is opening and closing, with remote
> thermometer to indicate temperature
> answer comes very quickly when i come down from attic. turns out fan
> is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
> soon as i get down and turn the attic light off, music stops. turn
> light on, music starts again. this, despite big clearly labeled (and
> working) fan shutoff switch in attic.
> haha.
Clark W. Griswald did the wiring eh?
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Posted by Eric in North TX on July 31, 2009, 1:10 pm
show/hide quoted text
> this had been bugging me for a while. roof-mushroom style attic fan
> with junction-box style adjustable thermostat, looks pretty old and
> like it had been maintained periodically by drunken chimps, wrong
> sized sheet metal screws sticking out, etc; making me suspicious.
> attic seemed overly warm on summer days. usual 1950s attic insulation,
> i.e. less than currently recommended, meaning hot attic generating hot
> house.
> so, stuck a remote reading outdoor thermometer =A0up there. gets up to
> 120+. seemed too high. took second look at fan setup. despite physical
> appearance, seemed to be working OK every time I check on it. fan
> capacity OK. twiddled around with thermostat settings, figured maybe
> somebody had screwed up the calibration. remote thermometer still
> showing 120+ up there on hot day. look at fan some more, it's running
> OK every time I check. maybe thermostat is intermittent? finally wire
> up boom box to thermostat and turn it up loud so i can tell from
> downstairs when thermostat is opening and closing, with remote
> thermometer to indicate temperature
> answer comes very quickly when i come down from attic. turns out fan
> is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
> soon as i get down and turn the attic light off, music stops. turn
> light on, music starts again. this, despite big clearly labeled (and
> working) fan shutoff switch in attic.
> haha.
I did that on my first house on purpose. I had no thermostat, just a
squirrel cage from a furnace blowing out through a grille in the end
of the attic. We used it as a whole house fan, it was a walk in attic,
so to operate it, you blocked the door open and turned on the light
switch. The draft was powerful enough to suck the door shut, and it
kept the house nice and cool, but that was Northern Ohio, I doubt that
would work in Texas. The light was put on a pull chain in case you
actually needed to go up there.
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> with junction-box style adjustable thermostat, looks pretty old and
> like it had been maintained periodically by drunken chimps, wrong
> sized sheet metal screws sticking out, etc; making me suspicious.
> attic seemed overly warm on summer days. usual 1950s attic insulation,
> i.e. less than currently recommended, meaning hot attic generating hot
> house.
> so, stuck a remote reading outdoor thermometer =A0up there. gets up to
> 120+. seemed too high. took second look at fan setup. despite physical
> appearance, seemed to be working OK every time I check on it. fan
> capacity OK. twiddled around with thermostat settings, figured maybe
> somebody had screwed up the calibration. remote thermometer still
> showing 120+ up there on hot day. look at fan some more, it's running
> OK every time I check. maybe thermostat is intermittent? finally wire
> up boom box to thermostat and turn it up loud so i can tell from
> downstairs when thermostat is opening and closing, with remote
> thermometer to indicate temperature
> answer comes very quickly when i come down from attic. turns out fan
> is wired to attic light switch in hallway near attic hatch/ladder.
> soon as i get down and turn the attic light off, music stops. turn
> light on, music starts again. this, despite big clearly labeled (and
> working) fan shutoff switch in attic.
> haha.