Belt Drive Vs Direct Drive Attic Fan

That would be quiet but would look like a mess from outdoors.

Belt drive vs direct drive attic fan.

Where on a belt drive fan the fan motor shaft has a pulley connected by a belt to a second pulley. A well balanced direct drive is far quieter than belt. Coming to the advantage of this kind of an industrial fan the biggest advantage is greater efficiency. Sizing a whole house fan.

Direct drive models are the most do it yourself friendly because for most no attic joists need to be cut. Thus the fan blades will rotate at the same speed as the motor rotates. Unlike the belt driven fans in case of a direct drive fan there is lesser energy loss. Belt drive fans are quieter than direct but still noisy.

Direct drive fans have no power transmission loss since the propeller is directly connected to the motor shaft. It s balance or lack of balance actually which causes most of the noise. 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. Unlike belt driven fans there s less energy loss because there s a reduced amount of friction as the fan operates.

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. You have a fan a motor and maybe a coupling. In a direct drive configuration the fan motor that controls the movement of the fan blades is connected either to a shaft or fan axle. On a direct drive fan as implied by the name the fan propeller is connected directly to the shaft of the motor.

Direct drive fans require fewer parts and thus usually less maintenance. The second pulley is connected to a shaft that drives the fan propeller. 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. It s incredibly hard to balance a belt and pulley system.

Most whole house fans are relatively easy to install.