Direct Drive Vs Belt Drive Attic Fan

Thus the fan blades will rotate at the same speed as the motor rotates.

Direct drive vs belt drive attic fan.

Most whole house fans are relatively easy to install. 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. Belt drive fans are quieter than direct but still noisy. That pulls more air with less fan noise.

Where on a belt drive fan the fan motor shaft has a pulley connected by a belt to a second pulley. The motors have two bearings whether the fan is direct drive or belt drive. This is because of the fact that the amount of friction is greatly reduced in case of this fan when the fan is operating. Sizing a whole house fan.

Unlike the belt driven fans in case of a direct drive fan there is lesser energy loss. Unlike belt driven fans there s less energy loss because there s a reduced amount of friction as the fan operates. 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 fans have motor bearings only and on motors typically 7 and a half horsepower and larger those motor bearings are regreaseable so direct drive fans should be designed for acceptable bearing life and.

I had a belt drive with a two speed motor years ago. Greater efficiency is the biggest pro of direct drive fan configurations. You have a fan a motor and maybe a coupling. A belt driven fan adds two extra bearings to the system.

Direct drive tables also will give you a speed control so as a dj if you want to change the tempo to blend one song into another with two turntables it is pretty easy to do so with the range of speed adjustment available on a direct drive table. 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. That would be quiet but would look like a mess from outdoors. 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.

I think that the belt drive blades can turn slower with a deeper pitch than a direct drive. Direct drive fans have no power transmission loss since the propeller is directly connected to the motor shaft. Belt drive whole house fans that use an integrated pulley system take longer to install but a belt drive unit provides for a smoother and quieter operation. 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.

The second pulley is connected to a shaft that drives the fan propeller.