Locking "Fan = on" option from tenants

[tedkidd]

No diy, and it does not matter who pays the bills if I am living in a house and want to circulate the air I should have that option. Especially if the Govt is paying the bill. Some maintenance guy with a Bright idea should not determine that. If it is a shared space all the more reason to run fan as to not have to deal with unknown smells. If shared HVAC on multi unit house then LL is too cheap to do it correctly with seperate units. JMHO.

You are asking for widow openings. Letting them run fan is cheaper then driving them to windows. Tight buildings need air circulation.

Wifi thermostats are the true answer. KNOW what the occupants are doing over time rather than guessing. If you make that pitch it even more firmly puts onus of failure and brand of incompetence upon them.

[Pete954]

Well if it's a fairly small system and the mtoor only draws 200watts, @ $0.10/kw-hr and if it would normally only run about 30% of the time in "auto", that's $184/yr. That's why for those that like to run the fan continously, a ECM motor can save around $100-150/year in electricity. More when you also factor in the bump in SEER as well.

You seem to know what you're talking about but if I understand correctly by your math it would cost $72 per month just for the evap fan. I don't think it costs that much to run the whole system in the middle of summer.

[tedkidd]

2c per hour looks like 48c per day which runs out to $15 per month. I think you maybe used 31 days a month and doubled when you should have halved.

[CraziFuzzy]

You guys keep talking about fresh air, and that's why the fan should run... Must likely, though, there is no fresh air intake on these units, so all the fan is doing is filtering, and mixing within the space.

[david912]

You guys keep talking about fresh air, and that's why the fan should run... Must likely, though, there is no fresh air intake on these units, so all the fan is doing is filtering, and mixing within the space.

[tedkidd]

You guys keep talking about fresh air, and that's why the fan should run... Must likely, though, there is no fresh air intake on these units, so all the fan is doing is filtering, and mixing within the space.

That only happens if the duct work is perfectly sealed and the house is perfectly sealed.

When equipment runs there is typically positive pressure in one area and negative pressure in another. Often bedrooms have only supplies, and some living space has more returns. The air in the positively pressured space does not cooperatively return 100% to the furnace - it follows the path of least resistance - some of which will be out cracks and leaks in the duct or room. Leakage may increase when doors are closed.

The air in the negatively pressured space does not cooperatively come 100% from the house - it comes from the path of least resistance - some of which will be in cracks and leaks in the duct or room.

So even without fresh air intake, you are getting some amount of "fresh" air.


Whether that "fresh" air is primarily coming from moldy crawl spaces on it's way into poorly paned returns is another matter.