Go Green With a Whole House Fan.

In my community of Hillandale, Maryland a lot of the homes were built in the 1950s and 1960s.  Back in those days air conditioning was not too common and considered an expensive luxury. Many homes instead had "whole house fans" installed. Typically you see a whole house fan installed in the ceiling between the upper level of a home and the attic. They are pretty big and when turned on the force of the fan opens up louvers in the ceiling and pulls fresh air into the house through open windows and vents it out through the attic. Not only does it cool the house with fresh outside air but the fan also pushes hot air out of the attic space. This actually benefits the home in two ways as an attic without ventilation can get very hot in the summer and force your cooling system to work harder. You really do not see whole house fans installed in newer homes and I can't figure out why. Even with a central air system in place, a whole house fan can save a homeowner a wad of cash. It is estimated that a modern whole house fan uses about 1/10th the electricity that a central air conditioner would. You can still run your AC in the hottest days but when the outside temperature is below 80 and the humidity low, a whole house fan will keep you house just as cool. Here is a nice little video that I found that explains the principal of whole house fans in a quick nutshell.

Whole house fans are not too expensive but if it is not in your budget you can get yourself a high quality window fan that can just about do as good of a job as a whole house fan. I have an "Air King" window fan that goes into my window in the spring and comes out in the fall when the weather cools. It is bit noisier than a installed whole house fan but it is a "brute" and does a great job of ventilating my home.