We had one down there, and our ranch style house had a cupola on the roof over the fan. Because of the humidity down there, the fan was used more in the spring and fall, not so much in the summer.
We found that opening the windows about 2 inches (casement type about 2.5 ft high) in the bedrooms was about the best airflow. Much more than that and the airflow actually seemed to decrease. During the day, we would close the bedroom windows to just a crack, and open the windows in the den and dining room and had a good flow through the rest of the house. Bedtime, reversed it, opening the bedroom windows and closing down the den and dining room.
Loved the fan. Love to have one in our house, but not practical at all.
Comments on proper attic ventilation is right on. We were in homes down there that had two wind turbines on roof, and they couldn't keep up with the whole house fan. Watching Holmes on Homes on HGTV, he will often talk about improper ventilation in attics, and a lot of it deals with soffits blocked by insulation and inadequate roof vents.
I am not a contractor (I use a large hammer to drive in the screw to hang a picture) but experience and shows like HoH shows that a proper fan with proper ventilation yields the best results. Good luck with your project, and be
!
