Do Solar Attic Fans Work

This is basically how air naturally moves.

Do solar attic fans work.

An attic fan is installed on the slanted side of your roof or on one of the gable sides of your attic. If you ve ever been in your attic you know just hot the space can get especially in summer months. You will probably need two solar attic fans to get the results you want. You re a pretty clever guy to get the sun to do double duty.

Solar attic fans work by pulling in the cold air from the soffits and pushing out the hot air that has accumulated at the top of the attic. A solar powered attic fan provides constant steady air flow throughout your attic. It makes perfect sense to make the sun cool your attic space since it is the source of the problem in the first place. Good insulation reduces fan effectiveness.

It was almost magical to see the solar attic fan work. Depending on what your utility charges that s about 40 per year. If a cloud blocks the sunlight the fans slow or stop. However the utility of attic ventilation fans is actually quite a controversial topic.

Solar attic fans work with your existing passive vents. Free fast bids. That means you will need to double up your investment in this area. 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.

Danny s tests of solar attic fans showed that in florida where there s abundant solar energy yearly savings from installing two fans in a house with just over 1 000 square feet of air conditioned floor area amounted to only 460 kwh. How an attic fan works. Cold air is at the bottom and warm air is at the top. Building codes require homes to have a passive vent system.

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. But passive ventilation does not. 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. Attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside.

To determine the number of cubic feet per minute needed for a power vent fan multiply the number of square feet in your attic by 0 7. But they re much easier to install since no wiring is needed. The attic fan just helps the air move more which adds cooler air circulation. The downside of attic ventilation fans.

Because solar attic fans operate with a lower power output they are unable to move as much air as some of the other options that are available. The sun beats down on the roof surface and heats up the stagnant air inside the attic. Solar powered attic vent fans usually don t move as many cubic feet of air per minute cfm as hardwired fans.