Attic Fan Useless

This radiant heat in turn heats up the rafters and everything else in the attic.

Attic fan useless.

Powerful fans that are exhausting air from your attic work best when they can get ample amounts of makeup or replacement air from outdoors. You need great soffit vents to supply the attic with all of the replacement air. But don t go crazy you need oxygen anyway. Attic fans installed properly don t suck any more air out of your house than a normal bath fan.

Get help with your home improvement projects. Attic fans are typically used in warmer months when temperatures in an attic can exceed 120 f 49 c. Mechanical attic ventilation fans may be powered in a variety of different ways. If you stayed in a perfectly sealed house you would get sick and die.

Fans can cause increased loss of conditioned air. Most attic ventilators fitted to homes are powered off mains electricity. Send your questions to tom. The only effective means are more insulation preferred or a radiant barrier up against the inside of the roof.

Setting them back is what is important so an un programmed thermostat is just as useless as a manual thermostat. As it turns out because the insulation slows heat from moving down into the living space homes with well insulated attics don t see a significant reduction in their cooling load when they add attic ventilation fans. The lack of soffit vents may cause the fans to draw air up from the inside of your home. Attic fans suck air out of the attic to the outdoors.

You are spot on with your comment about thermostats. Even though a manufactured cover costs more it is far easier to install. Power vented attic fans are a true hazard vinyl is just gross no matter how you look at it fresh air intakes were a sad idea from conception. A fan may be installed in an attic for the different purpose of cooling a whole house venting hot air out via the attic.

Much of that heat then conducts downward and finds its way into the house. The attic coffin you mention which is used to air seal and insulate pull down stairs scuttle hole or a whole house fan is good in theory but in practice is cumbersome to install. Using a fan to blow hot air out of the attic doesn t address the radiant heat flow from the roof to the attic floor. If the gaps in your ceiling are so big as to allow too much air through then fix the holes.

Trying to solve the heat gain problem in your attic by using a fan is like lying out at the beach with a fan blowing over you and thinking you re not going to get a sunburn. It also requires no assembly.