Do whole house fans exist in the UK?

[whenwillitbespring]

I am trying to think of ways to cool our house this summer. In the US, where I've lived before, one house had a "whole house fan" that I think was in the attic that was able to circulate vast amounts of air to make them cooler.

We also had window units for AC and window fans -- neither of which exist here. I see portable ACs but they apparently don't work as well and look really clunky.

Has anyone seen a whole house fan for cooling (not just damp) in the UK? Is there a reason this wouldn't work in a standard terraced house?

Thanks!

I think you are thinking of a PIV system. A positive whole home ventilation system. they are fitted to help with damp and condensation but will also improve the air quality and it will cool a house in summer if you turn off the heating element as it draws cooler air in to replace the hotter and maybe humid air.

They aren't generally used here because the British climate doesn't usually have more than about 3 weeks of really hot weather each year, and the cost of installing, maintaining and powering such systems is not very cost-effective. Attic spaces are more likely to have been filled with insulation to deal with winter coldness rather than being filled with cooling equipment, and given the choice most of us would rather be sure of being warm in winter. Various cooling systems do exist, but aren't going to look the same in a house built without aircon that is being retrofitted as they do in the usa in a house where they are designed in from the start.

But there's loads of results if you google "whole house fan site:uk"

What do you mean by a window fan? Do you have an example? Like an extractor fan fitted in glass?

PIV draws in air from the roof space so I would imagine in summer rhat might be hot?

@007DoubleOSeven it is a large unit that sits sort of on the windowsill, like a smaller version of our portable air con units. They appear on loads of tv shows.

@whenwillitbespring no, no whole house fans. I have been trying to source cassette ceiling air con system instead of mini splits as I don't like the massive bulky plastic units on a mini split but can only come across commercial massive cassette ones or a home made DIY version of it on Youtube.

However, we have done a DIY whole house fan, we took a normal pedestal fan from Screwfix, cut a piece of ply that is slightly larger than our loft hatch, attached wooden battens to the ply that make it sit inside the opening to the loft and then cut a hole into the middle of the ply to seat the fan. It works well. It just vents into the loft which has air bricks. But we have a full height hallway so all the hot air is able to move through the hall and up to the landing where the fan is.

The UK weather doesn't really warrant the installation of a permanent fan for us with a grille and ducting.

We have air-conditioning. Proper plumbed in

We installed something like this in a tiny Georgian terrace.
https://www.self-build.co.uk/guide-mechanical-ventilation-heat-recovery/

It was amazing. Despite a glazed side return, internal bathroom, leaky single glazing and no central heating the house was always warm in the winter and cool in the summer- visitors thought we had air conditioning. Simple job to reverse the filters at season change.

Portable A/C are very effective, best thing I ever bought for my attic bedroom.
Next best thing is fitted air con but obviously much more expensive.

Thank you all! @Lamelie that is exactly what I was thinking of but not sure it would work in our house. But now I know what to look for! Otherwise, I'll have to go for the portable AC. I know it doesn't get that hot here usually but I went mad last summer and imagine it will only get worse, unfortunately.

It was amazing. Also so cooking smells. We were 5+ dog in central London in a 14 wide terrace bang on the pavement and I’ve never lived in such a fresh airy house.

Amazing @Lamelie ! How hard was it to install, do you remember? Our house is pretty much done but most of the examples I see online are where people are doing major renovations.

Hmm, it was done as part of a renovation- possibly some boxing iirc. All the outlets/ extractors were on the ceilings and about the size of a bathroom extractor fan. It was 20 years ago so details are hazy.