Attic Fans Do They Work

Attic fans come with different models.

Attic fans do they work.

A mechanical fan working in an attic space equipped with adequate ventilation openings can move hot air out and increase the flow of air through the attic. How does an attic fan work. Attic fan mounts on the roof towards the back of the house. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.

Attic fans are intended to cool hot attics by drawing in cooler outside air from attic vents soffit and gable and pushing hot air to the outside. The benefits of an attic fan. This is where an attic fan can help. This pressure balance improvement and the cooling provided by the air flow are most significant in the case of a leaky ceiling.

This action cools the area down and gets rid of any excess humidity. Ideally this will lower the high temperatures that have built up in your attic. When the attic gets too hot it turns on automatically. Attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside.

Fresh air is pulled in from your soffits and or roof vent creating a draft through your attic. Once the warm air is out intake vents pull cool and dry air from your living space into the attic. While a simple vent is sometimes used to allow for the passive flow of air it s also possible to add a powered attic fan commonly called an attic power ventilator. An attic fan works by pulling this hot and humid air up and out of your attic.

The main work of an attic fan is to regulate the heat level of the attic by removing hot air out of the attic and pushing it outside providing needed ventilation. This prevents hot air from seeping into your home and driving up the temperature in the living space which reduces the load on your air conditioner. This air is then exhausted through the fan to the outside. It fits in with the shingles and is water proof.

It allows hot air to escape in the summer and can also help reduce the chances of ice damage in the winter by allowing a natural flow of outdoor air to ventilate the attic. The problem with this design as argued by energy professionals is that attic fans also pull the conditioned air from your home into the attic. Some can have manual switches while others use a thermostat to turn them on and off automatically. Attic ventilation fans help cool air your attic by pushing out the stifling hot air from inside the attic and bringing in cool air from outside.

Any home with an attic space walk in or crawl space that is unheated in the winter needs an attic fan to expel dollar robbing heat collected during summer days. Exhausting moderate amounts of attic air as solar fans do can counteract this reducing infiltration my calculations show it to be about right for a vented attic but either do the calculations or measure the pressures.