October Weather - Windows Open!

October weather is always spectacular.  We get our first cool fronts that push the muggies out into the Gulf of Mexico and the temperatures range from the 80's during the day to the 50's at night.  We've taken the opportunity to pull our screens out of the attic and put them on the windows and then open up the windows on opposite ends of the house and let the breeze blow through the house.  We wouldn't try that during the summer because we'd be soaking wet with sweat due to the heat and humidity of our locale.  We wouldn't try that without putting the screens on the windows because we'd be carried away by the mosquitoes!

Opening the windows and 'airing out' the house is so pleasant.  The cool breeze is refreshing and brings a nice, clean smell into the home.  I was reading the other day about how our homes these days are so insulated and sealed up that it creates an unhealthy environment and actually can make us sick. The author of the article was talking about how she opens the windows each morning to allow fresh air to blow through her home and pulls back the comforter to freshen her sheets each day. Unfortunately, we don't live in an area where you can do this except on rare occasions - October is usually one of those months.

As I was reading that article, it prompted me to remember something that I hadn't thought about in years - an attic fan.  My grandmother and grandfather (we called them Bumby and Poppy) had an attic fan in their house.  I haven't seen those installed in any other home around here that has been built recently.  I guess this was mainly a thing in older homes?  I recall that thing being so effective in pulling a breeze through the house.  Right inside their front entry-way, in the ceiling between the living area and the attic, was a louvered grate that looked somewhat similar to the photo below:

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They would lift the windows and turn that thing on and it would make a rumbling noise and then the air would circulate through the house, creating a stiff breeze!  If I recall correctly, it was called an attic fan, but the real term for it was the Whole House Fan.  If I read correctly, an attic fan just exhausts the hot air in the attic out to atmosphere, whereas a whole house fan is used instead of an air conditioner to move a whole lot of air throughout the home.

During the day you keep the windows closed and at night the outside temperature and humidity drops, so you open the windows and turn the fan on.  This forces air in the house up through the attic and out, drawing cool air from outside into the home.  It is more economical to run this than an air conditioner and depending on the outside temperature, you'll want to have a quilt handy because it gets mighty chilly!  While we don't have a fan like Bumby and Poppy did, opening the windows on opposite ends of the house is the next best thing and brings refreshing air circulation into a house that has been sealed up all throughout the preceding summer months.

Anyway, while we're talking about attic fans, or whole house fans, it reminded me of one quirky thing that I used to do without fail every single time I passed it.  Do you remember the pull-down stairs that lots of people have in their homes to get into the attic?  We don't have one because we have an entry door to our attic, but some people have the string that you pull down in the ceiling that reveals a fold-out ladder.  The string has a little white, plastic end piece that looks kind of like the top to a bottle of Elmer's glue, like shown in the photo below:

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The string with the end piece hangs down like shown below and always seemed to beckon me to jump up and hit it with the tips of my fingers.  (This is probably documentation of some sort of a mental disorder, I'm sure.)

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I don't know why, but as a kid every time I passed by it, I would jump up and hit it with my hand. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I'd hit it every time.  Is this just me or did anyone else do this?  If I had a dollar for every time I did this, I would be able to retire tomorrow.