Belt Drive Vs Direct Drive Whole House Fans

Greater efficiency is the biggest pro of direct drive fan configurations.

Belt drive vs direct drive whole house fans.

With a belt drive the fan speed can be easily raised or lowered but there is belt and bearing maintenance to consider with a belt drive there are 2 additional bearings. Direct drive fans require fewer parts and thus usually less maintenance. Sizing a whole house fan. Belt drive fans have two additional bearings.

On both direct drive and belt drive fans the motor has two bearings. I fantasized building a small shack outside my house and setting the attic fan in the shack and running a duct up to the attic and through the same vent as an attic fan. However a belt drive fan has power transmission loss due to the friction between the belt and sheaves and due to the drive shaft bearings. Direct drive models are the most do it yourself friendly because for most no attic joists need to be cut.

Unlike the belt driven fans in case of a direct drive fan there is lesser energy loss. Direct drive fans have no power transmission loss since the propeller is directly connected to the motor shaft. The two bearings on direct drive fan motors which are 7 horsepower and larger are typically regreaseable. It s not as powerful as some of the others we ve talked about but it s still a suitable choice if you re primarily concerned with.

Thus the fan blades will rotate at the same speed as the motor rotates. The second pulley is connected to a shaft that drives the fan propeller. This is because of the fact that the amount of friction is greatly reduced in case of this fan when the fan is operating. You have a fan a motor and maybe a coupling.

4 296 received 2. Most whole house fans are relatively easy to install. Sponsored links 2 10 08 15 06 56 pm g. Summer is over and i am planning for the next summer.

That would be quiet but would look like a mess from outdoors. Direct drive vs belt. Belt drive fans are quieter than direct but still noisy. Direct drive fans should be designed for acceptable bearing life.

Basically the difference between this whole house fan version and some of the others on this list is that with the tpi belt drive whole house fan you re getting a much more compact portable unit. Where on a belt drive fan the fan motor shaft has a pulley connected by a belt to a second pulley. Coming to the advantage of this kind of an industrial fan the biggest advantage is greater efficiency. Unlike belt driven fans there s less energy loss because there s a reduced amount of friction as the fan operates.

When compared to belt drive fans which require belts sheaves and bushings direct drive is just plain simpler and maintenance folks tend to lean toward direct drive for daily maintenance.