I can totally relate to this!
https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/nwhomes/why-is-picking-a-paint-color-so-hard/
The ONLY reason why picking a paint color is so hard is because my wife doesnāt agree with my choice of the colorā¦ Otherwise, itās so easyā¦
^^LOL! 
My husband was never interested in paint colors until it came to painting our new siding. All hell broke loose when I suggested painting it beige! 
Soā¦ we divvied it up, like in the old Ukrainian sayingā¦ a man and his dog are for the outside, and a woman and her cat(s) are for the inside. I pick the indoor paint, he picks the outdoor paint!
My wife picks both the indoor and the outdoor paint, matter closed. The laborās all mine, though.
I donāt let my husband pick anything and we did a whole house reno inside and out.
Patio is coming along. Main part is done and theyāve started laying the stone on the side where the gate is.
@BunsenBurner Congrats on the mirror/tile project all coming together!
I pick the paint. I bring home a million samples, put them on the wall, let DH pick a few out of my favorites then end up picking my favorite anyway! I am the planner in the family though. We are leaving in a few hours for a family trip to CA and just this afternoon DH asked me exactly what our plans are!
My D and her husband own a two story house in a warm climate. They are already having multiple 100 degree days. They have ceiling fans in the bedrooms and also an AC unit which they run pretty much continuously during the summer. They run it on low during the day because they donāt want the house to be to warm for their dogs. Her H wants to look into installation of a whole house fan. We know nothing about them since we live in an area where it rarely gets out of the 70ās in the summer. Anyone have experience or suggestions. I think the major goal is to lower the electric bill.
A lot of the newer homes and the larger homes have solar panels which is probably another way to lower the bill. I donāt know enough about solar to advise them but I do know they donāt have the money to buy panels out right.
There are companies that lease solar panelsā¦
Whole house fans work well in areas with cool nights. Is their area like that?
This article gives a good overview of whole house fans:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/fans-in-the-attic-do-they-help-or-do-they-hurt
My Dad had a whole house fan, it was a massive, I would guess 24"x24", hole in the hallway ceiling, when the air outside cooled off, he would start it up and pull cooler air in and the hotter air went out, it was great.
I grew up in a house with a whole house fan in the attic. It didnāt work well in the heat and humidity of the summerā¦when we needed it most.
We have one. Itās original to the house. Ours is also in our hallway.ceiling. Itās great except when itās still hot and humid at night. Ours is also noisy, but Iām sure thatās because itās 60 years old.
We run our whole house fan first thing in the morning for 10 or 15 minutes whenever the outside temperature is cooler than the inside temperature. We only have window or through the wall ACs which we use as little as possible. Especially the one where the knob is completely destroyed. Would love to replace it, but apparently they donāt make anything for that size sleeve any more. Will get a mini-split system probably eventually.
We have one. Itās 24"x24", with air-powered louvers that open when the fan is running and close when itās not.
We havenāt used it in years, for several reasons:
- air follows the path of least resistance, so if you have upstairs windows open all of the air getting pulled into the house comes from there. You wind up having to go around the house and adjusting all of the windows so that air will get pulled through the entire house.
- if you live in a humid area, during the summer, once it cools off a bit in the evening, the outside air is at close to 100% relative humidity. So you are filling the house with very damp air, which isn't that good. When it's really hot, it may not cool off enough at night to make it worthwhile to run.
- it's basically a 4 square foot hole into your attic, which is really bad in the winter. So I had an insulated box built around it to try to lower the heat loss in the winter. But that means having to climb up into the attic to open the box in the summer and close it in the winter, not a huge deal but still a PITA.
- it's noisy. You can hear it rumbling through the entire house, and since it sits right on the attic floor joists, the vibrations travel through the entire house as well. My fan is old, a newer one might be quieter, and it is probably possible to isolate it from the floor to lower the noise, but these fans are powerful and move a lot of air. They can only be so quiet.
You might need to increase the venting in the attic to be able to handle the air flow from the fan, if you have only a couple of gable vents, thatās not going to cut it.
Thanks for the input. She said her H is doing some research. Has anyone done this as a DIY project? They arenāt in a humid climate nor a climate that gets really cold in the winter. For example she said this morning it was 60 degrees outside but 76 already in the house. The house heats up during the day and even though the air in the evening cools off the house never does.
I think the thought with leasing solar is that they donāt plan on being in this house long term.
Have them experiment with a regular fan positioned near a window. During the day, point the fan so the air is blown to the outside. As soon as the outside cools down below the temperature indoors, switch the fan to blow air indoors. See if this helps. We use a quiet Dyson fan (ring on a stick) to cool our bedroom this way. Then leave it on low setting all night during hot weather. No AC here.
Definitely invest in lined drapery on the south and west facing windows to keep the sun out!
@mom60, it sounds like the house needs better insulation.
They recently did blinds in addition to the lined drapes and it has helped. The house is two story tract home built in the late 80ās. Iām pretty sure they werenāt expensive homes when they were built and I bet the insulation isnāt great. The house also doesnāt have any overhangs. The winters are mild and they quickly forget how hot the house gets in the summer until summer rolls around again. Iāll suggest they try the fan idea.
Some good tips hereā¦
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ways-to-cool-your-home_n_5516182
Do they change the direction of their ceiling fan rotation based on the seasonal temperature?
https://www.delmarfans.com/educate/basics/what-is-the-proper-ceiling-fan-direction/
Going to bite the bullet and replace our aging combiboiler. That work will be outsourced, obviously. Ugh. Not looking forward to the permitting process.
I was redirected to this thread so I wanted to ask a question. What would be a good color for the floor and walls of a master bathroom? I wanted to use marble for the floor of the master bath. I donāt plan on fixing it up soon but in a few years. Any ideas no matter how early would be helpful. Thank you.