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Smart window fan

Bidirectional fan connected to thermostat or timer.
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I currently have a fan in my window with a switch to blow air in or out. I've found that I can cool off my bedroom at night by setting it to "intake", but if I do this in the day I'm actually heating my room by taking in hotter air, so I have to set it to exhaust and create a draft from the rest of the apartment.

Switching the fan is a pain, and a lot of the time I forget and come back to a room that's hotter than it needs to be. Since I'm poor (and cheap), I don't want to buy a climate control setup or an air conditioner, but if I hooked up the fan to two temperature sensors, one outside my window and one in my room, the fan could know which way to blow without me having to be there to switch it.

Alternatively, it could be hooked up to a timer which says to blow air out during the day and take it in at night.

bookworm, Jul 17 2000

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       There are lots of thermostat-driven reversible window fans that will turn themselves on and off... but none that will reverse themselves automatically. What a shame.
egnor, Jul 17 2000
  

       At the same time you would have to add a reciever to at least one other window in the home to add the "draft' you mentioned earlier. Perhaps it could be equipped with a light sensor as well, when it rains (and thus is cooler) the reversal wouldn't take place. OR have 2 fans with the light sensors on opposite sides of the house. Then you would have a draft of cooler air no matter which direction it was coming from.
interpreter, Jul 20 2000
  

       Ha! I was *this* close to posting this as an idea (I was going with the name "Maxwell's Window Fan"). C'est la vie.
phoenix, May 12 2003
  

       hmmmm - if you put a fan in your window and set it to 'exhaust', that fan has to pull air in from SOMEwhere - otherwise you'd create a vacuum. That air probably has to come in from (the hot) outside. Better to just leave the fan off and close the curtains, no?
joemadeus, Jul 08 2003
  

       When the fan is set to exhaust, you are probably pulling cool air from the darkened hallways, and other dwellings of your appartment. Way to rob from the air-conditioned elite.   

       Hope I'm not making you feel guilty. I'd do it too.
ye_river_xiv, Jun 17 2006
  
      
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