I just bought a house and it’s got a whole house fan. Said fan does not appear to be working (I knew this when buying). There’s a switch on the wall that runs the fan, and when you flip the switch, the louvres open up and some noises are made but the fan doesn’t spin. My dad and I speculate that a belt is broken.
But who do I call to service this thing? Electrician? HVAC service company? Carpenter? Mechanic? Sears?
The house and the fan are located in Ohio, and I’m not sure how common these things are around here. I’ve lived in Ohio all my life and have never seen one, so I am not sure if Joe Electrician has much experience with them.
I am reasonably sure you are in need of an HVAC technician.
I would reccomend one, since we are in the same metro market, but every technician I have used has been subpar, or at least not what I was looking for.
I have been looking for an indie HVAC guy but every number I call is a mega-HVAC company.
Every whole house fan I have seen has barometric (or gravity) dampers. These are opened by the air being pulled through them. Since you apparently have powered louvers, that raises another possibility for the malfunction. It is possible that the damper motor has an end-position switch which prevents the fan from operating until the dampers are fully opened. If this switch is bad or out of adjustment, nothing much will happen. Of course, if you can hear the motor running, this is not the case.
Having said that, your guess about a broken belt is probably dead-on. Also possible is that the belt broke because the fan bearings seized and the former owner wasn’t keen on the expense of fixing it. Before you call an HVAC tech, you might investigate the fan to see if it turns freely without undue noise. A bad bearing on a house fan can make fingernails on a chalkboard seem like a pleasant melody. And increases the repair time considerably.
I also second Mr. Slant’s opinion on finding a competent HVAC tech. They do exist, but they are outnumbered by the less talented (and sometimed less scrupulous) variety. Ask your friends and neighbors if they have any recommendations.
It could be a broken belt, as many whole house fans are belt driven. Other possibilities are start/run capacitor, toasted motor, interlock switching, as suggested by others. Any electrician or HVAC tech should be able to address the issue in short order.
Around here, at least, Sears claims to be able to fix pretty much anything in, on or around your house.
As a point of reference, a completely new whole-house fan can be bought for $200- 250, depending on size and whether or not it’s got a pull-chain switch or wall-mounted switch - just wanted to toss that out as a defense against someone telling you that you need a new fan and it’ll cost $675.00 plus labor.
Seems to me that a visual and physical inspection is the first order of business. With hot weather this means early rising and getting into the attic to isnspect the fan. Be sure switch is in OFF position for safety.
Visual inspection will reveal if it is belt driven and if the belt is broken. Retreive all pieces of belt to determine belt size and circumference.
Have someone turn on the fan to see if the motor runs or is interlocked with louvres.
Now you have sufficient information to contact a service person to get the job done if you don’t want to make it a DIY project.
Sears will do the job for a price.
I agree with spingears, and here are a few more little pieces. Clambering up into the attic is an adventure in itself, so take all the tools you’ll need when you first go up. In this case, that’s probably a flashlight, a tape measure, and two adjustable wrenches. If you want to guess on what size combination wrenches to stick in your pocket, try 9/16 and 1/2 inch. The motor mount bolts probably live in slots in the mounting plate, so you can loosen the bolts and slide the motor to remove and replace the belt. If the belt is actually broken, wrap your tape measure around the two pulleys. That way, you’ll know how big a belt you need. Any auto parts store will have the replacement.
The attic will be very dusty. Even in the wee hours of the morning, it will be quite warm. Good luck, and don’t step between the rafters. Falling through your own ceiling can be embarrassing and painful.