Attic Ventilation Fans Pros And Cons

Installing a smaller fan on the roofline 1or in the gable is easier than putting a much larger fan in the ceiling of the home.

Attic ventilation fans pros and cons. Cons of solar attic fans there are also a number of negative points to keep in mind when you re considering installing a solar attic fan in your home. Unfortunately attic vents on their own do not complete the job as well. Keeping your home comfortable is expensive both in summer s heat and winter s cold. Attic fans will circulate the air and remove excess heat.

The attic fans needs to have a minimum amount of makeup air or intake air which is the vent area that the attic fan pulls air from. While attic fans provide the same kind of ventilation of roof vents there are a few downsides. While they generally help exhaust superheated air from your attic there is a risk they pull air conditioned air from your home. First the air in the attic is generally warmer than in the rest of the house owing to the fact that hot air rises.

If there isn t enough venting in the attic for the attic fan to pull air from it will start pulling air from the home s interior through the wall cavities and drywall ceilings. Heating and ventilation pros can work out the right system so that your hvac system is never working harder than it should which means keeping your attic out of the equation. List of the pros of solar attic fans 1. While there aren t many solar attic fans do have a few cons like these.

Attic fans are more energy efficient than air conditioners as they ll typically use no more than 10 to 15 percent of the power needed to run an air conditioner making an attic fan a more affordable cooling option. Even though one is less difficult both projects should only be tackled by professionals. The best time to run an attic fan therefore is in the evening after the sun sets and ideally when the temperature outside is below 70 f. Choices in attic ventilators most homeowners will benefit from adding roof mounted fans or gable mounted fans to keep ventilation at the right level.

Therefore using attic fans helps to eliminate humidity which in effect extends the life of your roof. If a solar powered fan won t work for your location you ll need to hard wire one in. More costly than traditional models solar attic fans are most costly on the front end than traditional attic fans but the initial expense is ultimately made up in energy savings over time. Attic ventilation fans have pros and cons.

Also if the house is leaky the fan could actively be pulling warmer air from the home or other areas of the roof. This option runs on a renewable energy resource.