Attic Fan Effectiveness

The problem with attic fans is in how they are marketed.

Fan club jokes. Attic ventilation fans work best if the attic floor is thoroughly sealed hvac equipment is well insulated and sealed and attic insulation is less than r 19. Even then they will not cool a home in the way most homeowners understand the term. An attic fan is installed on the slanted side of your roof or on one of the gable sides of your attic.

Solar attic fans are not needed in brand new construction homes. Attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside. So is it truly worth it to add a solar attic fan on an older home.

How an attic fan works. Homeowners need to know that fans can only be effective if sized properly and mated with the proper amounts and placements of ventilation openings. However leaving the fans on for hours can have an impact on your pockets.

When it is most effective. For the attic fans to work at peak efficiency they need to be on a south facing roof slope if you live in the northern hemisphere. Unlike a ventilation fan a whole house fan an attic mounted fan that exhausts air from a home at night is designed to cool a house that is to lower the indoor temperature.

The safety and effectiveness of an attic fan is a subject that is hotly debated but line powered products usually cost more to operate than they can produce in savings during the summer. Many families use classic fans to protect their homes from overheating. These fans are designed to remove excess heat from your attic which in theory is supposed to lessen the load on the air conditioning in your home.

The downside of attic ventilation fans. If a cloud blocks the sunlight the fans slow or stop. Or is it better to abide by proven methods of insulating a home and increasing attic ventilation through soffits ridge vents or offset ridge vents.

A thermostat is used to automatically turn the fan off and on while sometimes a manual switch is used. They also create zones of negative pressure that could pull the ac cooled air into the attic. An attic fan can be gable mounted or roof mounted.

Additional vents are required to draw in fresh air as the hot air is exhausted. An attic fan can be used temporarily during the summer to decrease the electric bill but it wont be the best option in the long run. It is designed to lower the temperature of an attic by exhausting air from the attic and replacing attic air.

Attic ventilation fans whether hard wired or powered by their own solar panels seem like a low cost and effective way to help keep your house cool. Good insulation reduces fan effectiveness. A powered attic ventilator or attic fan is a ventilation fan which regulates the heat level of a buildings attic by exhausting hot air.

This type of fan has proven effective in preventing hot air from being trapped in the attic. A powered attic ventilator has a different purpose.