I have to say that my experience with whole-house fans has not always been positive. I remember almost 20 years ago, my husband and I went to dinner at a friend's house near Detroit. The living room was getting warm even though it was cool outside, so our friend said he was going to turn on the whole-house fan instead of the air conditioner. No sooner did he flip the switch than it sounded like a helicopter had landed on the roof. Papers blew everywhere, and our previously calm, quiet conversation turned into a shouting match, just so we could hear each other above the din.
At that point, I would have been horrified if an HVAC contractor suggested putting one of those beasts in our house. But times have changed, and now I'd love it if someone offered to install one of the new, smarter, and thankfully, quieter, whole-house fans in our home. The problem is that many HVAC contractors just don't offer these types of products to their customers.