Better to spend your money on air sealing and insulation. Incorporating a radiant barrier on the backs of knee-walls (typically in the form of foil-faced polyiso for durability) is not a bad way to go. You could add one or two of those passive turbines. That being said, what do you recommend that would help? People who think radiant barriers are magic: They're not. thats like saying insulation doesnt work. was the use normalized based on degree days from previous years? NEVER COVER ATTIC SOFFIT VENTS WITH INSULATION use rafter vents and soffit vents to maintain airflow. However, a ceiling fan in a room with attic exposure also acts to disrupt the air film, reducing it's R-value, which brings ceiling temperature closer to room ambient. On those days, there will be more resistance to drawing air from the house and if some does, I'll get some outside air in. As simple as that. The power is adjusted and optimised to limit noise and energy consumption. Our house is a two story that faces West and is in direct sun most days....NO mature trees to help shade the house. ;~). I would require a fan to sit in my easy chair comfortably, or a running ceiling fan over the bed to sleep well overnight. @Mimi, in new construction, roof sheathing with factory applied radiant barrier can be cost effective (RB adds about 10 cents per ft2), but retrofit radiant barriers cost many times that amount, and will never save enough to justify the the cost. of course building wood materials arent perfect emitters so lets take 80% of these numbers: 10W and 12W/sq.ft. I can't be convinced. With or without a thermostat, these attic fans are valuable additions to any home or property. In another home, I found three power attic ventilators in the roof. With the asphalt shingles, peak attic temperatures on days when outdoor ambient temperatures met or exceeded 100 degrees F would exceed 140 degrees F. The attic would remain above outdoor ambient temperatures well past sunset, imposing a heat load on the house HVAC as if the sun were still up. Gary, Additionally, through time conduction/convection from the insulation surface to the air above is increased the GREATER the temperature difference between the insulation and the air. certainly, some installation site should NOT be used. during workdays would leave air conditioner off when leaving in the morning: temp 92+F at 5pm. People will write anything these days. But I could also just turn off the exhaust fan on those days (after doing the experiment—because it's so rare that cost isn't an issue, and there's zero likelihood of damage due to humidity, so really it's cooling that I care about). The a/c usage goes down. I also had two other thoughts as a I reflected on this, that may be worth considering and may actually drive the conversation forward a bit. one last thing is...if the AC is NOT on, the house is heating up. As far as power consumption is concerned, the ILG-001TH runs on 120V (10 amps) – which is quite in line with other products in the attic fan thermostat category. I've never seen an attic built with cooling fins. The room also has a cathedral ceiling. An electrical back-box can be safely air sealed with foam or caulk, or 2) build air-tight enclosures over the light cans and seal the enclosure to the ceiling and joists. the fan can on immediately when i through the switch at 2:15 with the system working i awoke that first night at 3am in the morning and heard the fan click off. Win. You can get much more efficient whole-house fans for the job (check out quietcoolfan.com, ES series). I went through the math here, in another forum. Attic ventilation will usually need to be increased to exhaust the fan's air outdoors. It doesn't take a lot of discussion to figure that out. that is ALOT OF ENERGY falling on the top of the insulation. Well, it might not be as you had thought or expected. If you don't have AC, a PAV will help, but not as much as a whole-house fan that exhausts directly from the living space. He said about 10°F. If your building enclosure is in good shape, a power attic ventilator is unnecessary. The underside of the roof deck can get very hot, so hot you can't keep your hand on it. Where my attic temperature sensor is located may be slightly affected by heat loss from the house whenever the attic temperature falls below indoor temperature, so the effect of night sky radiant cooling on the metal roof and attic coupling is to me not sufficiently measured. I said: You can also calculate the BTU load...50°F Delta-T, and 750 sq ft of R-50....BTU/h = 750*50/R-50 = 750 BTU/h expected heating...about the same as 2 100W bulbs, hardly going to make a whole upper story be super heated. The 2nd floor and 1st floor walls are insulated with vapor barriers (R-20 I think… pretty sure but don’t quote me). Please help me to understand, that although the attic fan is on, there is no insulation in the attic, the attic isn't sealed, why is the smoke puff test not reliable in this situation? Fan (Ceiling or Circulating) 88. I live in a two story house that faces West. Sucking out really hot air out of an attic has to have a positive effect on the home temperature in the area below the attic. Fan (Rollaway) 171. Allison, I admire your passion for attempting to fix both. Some things just won't go away like unqualified installers and products. If you are concerned with your attic temps (which are really a symptom of the true problem - radiant energy from the roof deck), then you could run baffle panels the entire length of your roof deck underside. this has further saving due to the AC running less the years it will run before something wears out now is extended. on work days while gone we would NOT have the AC on. Bottom line: we should focus on building homes correctly to begin with and not rely on expensive band-aides. Installation Costs. If an attic fan allows you to avoid using the A/C (and you don't have an atmospheric combustion appliance that would be affected), then why not indeed. Cory: You wrote: "You are incorrect. Thank you for your information. Having a built-in steel propeller, it prompts consistent air circulation. it was considerably easier to install the RB tha the fg insulation...cheaper too, @Mark, my previous comments were only in reference to RB at roof, or top of insulation. So, it's natural to think of cooling the attic. * link to another forum with thumbnail math on PAV's: http://bit.ly/mdIcXP. Ethan wrote: "The precise balance will depend on the balance of resistance of the soffit-vent versus through-ceiling paths.". The most common mistake homeowners make when installing insulation is to block the flow of air at the eaves. For some reason, the links were stripped from my last comment: That said, you'd get even more ventilation if the vents are balanced. There are soffits as I've mentioned and gable vents on either side of the 64’, no ridge vents. How Much Electricity Does a Pedestal Fan Use? I have experienced a lowering of the attic air temps and lower radiant ceiling temps even though there is no direct path of outside air to the bottoms of the troughs. BUT there are times when the installation a unit can be beneficial but it depends on several things...1) proper installation 2) proper conditions (environmental factors) 3) on a lesser note....whether it is a DIY installation or a professional installation which is costly and hence, possibly not cost effective i have posted several replies to the article and also to comments. In an area like mine where it could be useful and safe, the question then becomes one of cost tradeoff. For example, assuming your fan uses 60 watts output to the maximum and does not exceed, then take 60 and divide by 1000 (60 by 1000) = 0.06KW. Smoke can be helpful at finding larger leaks but it can't be used to prove a lack of leakage. 2. The roof travels from the peak to the top edge of the 2nd floor then down to the top edge of the first floor (visualize soffits) (the roof line is not a continuous run like a cape without dormers). It would be better to reduce heat loading into the attic at all, which the new roof will do very effectively. See it now? The precise balance will depend on the balance of resistance of the soffit-vent versus through-ceiling paths (and the through-ceiling path also has resistance on entry to the house—from crawlspace etc). Fan (Furnace) 500. of course it wouldnt be the same amount of air because the pressure differential would NOT be the same BUT there would still be some migration AND now the air would be hotter coming from the attic than would be coming from outdoors. while it is MUCH easier to have a RB installed at time of construction, ie on OSB, in CAN still be cost effective as a retrofit. I'd love to hear your thoughts. the air in the attic gets hot. I have done this with most of my under roof area and have noticed a significant reduction in attic temps even though I don't have soffit vents (I left the bottoms of the baffles open to get air from the attic which is supplied by 6 partially-open windows; top of baffles ends in a ridge vent; no mechanical venting/fans). In short, energy is the ability the fan uses to work, and power is electricity consumption the fan uses. Oh, and let's not forget: "You just are not getting it lady that it's not just the cooling effect we are after here." One of the main points of the article is that PAV's have a lot less impact than most folks seem to think. It definitely has to be equally larger and stronger. in my limited experience of a gable mounted fan, its installation resulted in the home being 8F cooler upon returing from work (~5pm) WITHOUT the A C on. as temps rise R-value goes down. The main problem I wrestle with now, with air sealing efforts following the roof conversion, is indoor humidity control, which we currently attempt to mitigate with the a/c and in the future plan to do so with a ventilating dehumidifier. Much of that heat then conducts downward and finds its way into the house." 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.† A radiant barrier would be a better way to attack this problem, but their cost effectiveness is marginal. The actual value of electric energy usage may differ significantly from the given. that is a considerable difference. To top off the extensive sun exposure, the master bedroom has a HUGE arched window that faces West and is on the second floor. Your source of knowledge about the world of building science, home energy efficiency, green jobs and more. He found that the average cost will vary between 7$ to 10$. Leakage between your house and attic likely consists of many tiny leakage paths, too small to affect the smoke but collectively enough to impact the result. That's why pressure diagnostics is the only way to demonstrate the impact of the fan (or lack thereof) on house air changes. If we were to build roofs like radiators, I'd agree with you that we could cool them with fans. We have no AC. We try to provide the best possible solution to survive during the hot summer season. Because HEAT ALWAYS TRAVELS TO COLD. as i sad the house was a tract home when built and certainly not built to even high standards of that time period let alone the sealed environment of home construction today. And no, I do not recommend adding a second fan. Fun stuff. @skye dunning... i hope your comment was pointed at my replies. The point of this site is to explain how attic ventilators take the air inside your home out of your home and into your attic. For the rest of the house we use individual ceiling fans and keep many windows open. dont get me wrong, i am all for radiant barriers. They give up most of their heat by conducting it downwards into the house or into the ductwork and HVAC system and then into the house from there. @David, thanks. Often, especially in Florida, the only place to keep that stuff on site is attic or the garage. You're pitting your intuition against physics and data. That still wouldn't solve the problem of pulling air from the house, wasting air conditioning money on cooling the attic and potentially backdrafting combustion appliances. @EW, regarding those light cans, you have a couple of alternatives: 1) use surface mounted lights. If you want to spend money on something, get your attic air-sealed and re-insulated. Attic fan prices. (In summer, stack effect tends to draw hot attic air into the house). There appears to be far less radiant heat upstairs—it is always comfortable and just a few degrees warmer than downstairs, but no noticeable radiant heat. Karen with the giant west facing window: You need to have a BPI certified contractor inspect your house. The main takeaways from the research are: 1. 43. Stop deceiving people. Let’s assume you spend like 6 hours, and this will be 0.06kW * 6Hours = 0.36kW. this keeps out birds, bats,some insects, etc. Because of the wiring involved, you will need to pay a professional electrician to have an electric fan installed. As for the result you described... without being on site I can only speculate, but to reiterate, smoke pencils (puffers) are only useful for finding larger leaks. Also, why is there no insulation? Voila. Big difference, just didn't know which one was the appropriate way to measure this. We're getting off topic, but here's a link to the Houston study: http://bit.ly/1m4W792. However I’m wondering if the message in this post applies to me. That's your air barrier, and it's probably not doing a good job at it. ... (attic, etc.) Sources such as The Billings Gazette, Energy Vanguard, and Home Power all have articles that essentially say the same thing: attic power ventilators are simply not worth the cost and effort. This part of the house is nearly 44 years old and has very little insulation in the attic. * example of air sealing top plate to ceiling drywall: http://bit.ly/1JaBWmR I am just worried if my roof and shingles will warp since the attic temp is high and the heat remains trapped in the attic. Allison...your comments are infuriating and show and general lack of understanding. What I find infuriating is people who come here to comment without understanding physics or what the literature says about this topic. Prior to the fan, it took hours for the upstairs to cool down. "You cannot cool radiant surfaces with air. In one embodiment of the invention a control box (also denoted as a black box) enables an attic fan to run on both solar power and house electricity (power line) and performs seamless integration of both power sources for continuous operation. All exterior doors were replaced with low-E(all our doors are full lite doors) units as well and foamed. Wow. I'm going to say it because no one else will... Allison Bailes, you're an ASS!! Thanks again! f. attic. “Measure of power”. Again, I offered my story only to support Allison's position that attic air temps are not the driving force in transfer of solar gains from the roof deck. The reduction at top of insulation (which is what determines any reduction in the conducted load) is typically less than 10F. lets take a modest home with a 1500sq.ft attic floor and calculate BTUs for the entire attic floor: this comes out to be ~60000BTU. Nor am I. Assume that you are running your fan while you are sleeping. Having a built-in steel propeller, it … We've definitely covered it in other articles and in comments, but if you'll look back at this article, I've just written an addendum with some advice on what to do instead of using PAVs. I just haven't found good retrofit option yet. The ventilator is suitable for an 1850 sq. NO, because I know the AC was running full-tilt before and failing, and now it works (and even cycles). Continue that way with the rest of the openings, add them up, and that's your net free area. whereas they are both cooling, the example is poor. They are much more valuable when you have ducts in the attic and they make a bigger difference in an attic with little ceiling insulation. First, airflow isn't on or off—it's relative. In the summer months, a smart attic fan will prevent the attic from reaching scorching hot temperatures that, in turn, transfer into the living space below. also, to reduce the vibration you can put some foam between mounting brackets and the framing it is bolted to lower the vibration transmitted from fan to house. When it gets HOT I close the windows in the morning (maybe 15 days a year). without that set up much of the air exhausted by the fan simply bounces back off the louvres and into the attic. There are sites on the 'net that say the power consumption of an attic fan does not offset the cost of running it. Let us assume an attic fan is 300 watts and that fan is set at 110 degrees F. For the Chicago area, that would mean the fan would probably operate 700 hours during the cooling season. Get all the details on the Master Flow® Power Attic Vent - Roof Mount ERV6 here! We have a whole-house fan as well. PAVs may help reduce cooling loads a little bit, but their energy use wipes out most or all of the savings. Fan (Window) 200. They will give you the reading. As long as they have at least as much net free area as the soffit vents, you don't need to install ridge vents. etc i know in my current house, 1-1/2 story home, the knee walls in the second story were insulated but the interior temp of the wall would still be hot enough in the summer months that leaving your hand on it for more than 5s was uncomfortable. Attic fans work!! And no - that's not me in the photo.). The second floor measures roughly 64’ X 18’. Would not radiant cooling of the roof into a dark night sky (common here) cause at least some of the stored heat to leave by that mechanism, thus reducing, to some extent, radiation downward? Most people think adding more insulation will solve the heat transfer from attic to living area but this is not necessarily correct. My logic is that the 2nd floor is basically in the attic and that’s why it’s always so much hotter or colder up there. @Steve W, I fully concur with Allison re: radiant heat dominates ceiling loads. =) The big complaint that leads to an attic fan request is usually a hot second floor, which can largely be mitigated by air sealing the attic and installing a generous bit of insulation - drastically reducing conduction and convection. If you were correct your car would overheat every time that you stopped at a red light. hopefully this not not a "professional" job because it is pure hack. you have never commented on any of my statements though it is possible you did and i simply missed it. The fan now resides on rubber mounts, about 20' into the attic and noise is no longer an issue. Any ideas? This always baffled me, and although I must admit I am rather easily baffled, it was not until I read your discussion of the building science behind the fallacy of attic ventilation, I never understood what was going on. at 150F it is even lower. @John, holding a smoke pencil even a foot from a leaky fixture is unlikely be detect anything. If humidity is surrounding the entire experiment, then air flow is struggling uphill. / wall / ceiling / floor ... the V4A whole-house exhaust fan will provide you all the comfort and air quality you can expect from a low consumption, silent exhaust fan. Here it is: 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. I had a client whose wife didn't care for the sensation caused by ceiling fans. if it didnt pay for itself in the first year it certainly did by the second AND the house was MORE comfortable, boy...that installation of the gable vent is sloppy. maybe they arent recommended for MOST of the US, including Georgia, but here in the central valley of CA, and the arid southwest they will certainly have a payback. ADDITIONALLY, before the install the air coming out of the ducts (rigid metal flex ducts with little insulation installed in the late 70s) when initially turning on air would be HOT for approximately 30s. I'm sure I have described my situation before, very likely within the 93 comments you mention, but here goes: Diurnal temps here in NV, especially during spring and fall, can approach 35*, and by power ventilating during the night, I can often bring inside temp down into the high 60's by 6am, from a previous evening's high of perhaps 80*. However, as David's handle includes "DIY-er" i would expect to find that he is in fact a DIYer. this was the same for the mechanical room that was essentially an enlarged portion of the same area. Some of that heat gets into the air above the hot materials on the attic floor, but the attic air getting heated up is a secondary effect. I recall a study re: RB laid on top of insulation but can't put my hands on it now. c) what % does ceiling contribute to total cooling load? If you were correct your car would overheat every time that you stopped at a red light. Is it increasing the cooling load by doing so? And if you're mainly concerned with nighttime-bedroom temps, a good window fan uses even less power. Inexpensive: You'll find cheap gable-mount attic fans for between $50 and $75. To me, in combination with a reflective metal roof, this is the ultimate roofing assembly. I remember the days at my parents house. Not to say it will not work, just may not gain much. In another house I hooked a duct blaster up to the ducts (ducts in the attic) and I was getting pressure before I turned the fan on. It's not unusual for a roof deck to be 50+ degrees above outside ambient. So getting ready for is next to ...impossible with the level of he. If you set a tower fan at high speed, it will cost you much power than an amateur with low speed. My problem is noise from the fan. The other 7 were spread across the roof, and they were naturally fighting against each other. So it's a sealed attic which is also vented above and includes a radiant barrier. Not Allison's #1 Reason, but perhaps his #2 reason: Depressurizing the attic draws cooled air from the house (cooling the attic). Tower fan uses different types of electricity depending on the standard and speed. ), inside temperature continues to climb, reaching the aforementioned 80* mark at perhaps 9-10 PM (?!?!). In shoulder seasons the a/c run time is considerably less, so thanks to the recent addition of an Ecobee thermostat, it can now initiate a call to dehumidify using the a/c and overcooling up to my preset limit. What is a Power Attic Fan? on the hotter days, above 97 or so, once it came on it wouldnt go off until well into the morning. Those materials heat up. the attic fan kept my house cooler by ~8F compared to pre-fan installation days. Luke: It's even more easily addressed than Mark says. How to Clean a Fan Without Taking It Apart? i live in a area with 100+F temps common from May thru Sept. 20yrs ago i installed a gable mounted fan. These are likely to be small with relatively low cfm ratings. He recommended blown-in insulation and an attic fan if she could'nt afford spray foam. the fan in the pic at top of article has several problems. Steve - to your point, I would also like to hear the experiences of anyone who has replaced their asphalt roofing system with metal (either standing seam or aluminum shingles) as metal is a much better radiant medium. In fact there is good data in the comments that it **does** cool the house. Maybe you can post a link to the study? TopCoolingFan.com is a participant in the AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM. Forced convection CAN draw heat from this top layer and get it out of the attic. Not easy to measure but a good number of unblocked soffit vents would favor airflow from outside. Depends on your local climate, and fyi, Georgia is not the center of the universe. Undoubtedly. However, to say imply they are ALWAYS inappropriate is shortsighted and ignorant. I put my fan in the blower door and the canvas snapped in before I even turned the fan on. i did not have time to read all of this but please be aware the air in the attic is much hotter than the air outside because it is heated by the same radiant effect you are referring to. And this is a gable fan. Here's an additional point to ponder and I welcome your insight. The wattage that are stated for them are approximate and can vary depending on either model and brand or both. Could it be that although the attic is a little cooler, it is, in fact, drawing in more humid air from outside and, because the temp in attic is lower, the dewpoint is also lower? This would force the air coming in your soffit vents to travel under the roof deck (not just into the general attic area) and out the top before being drawn through the gable fan/vents. Getting ready in that bathroom is unbearable! Unfortunately for her, anyone that's ever been INSIDE OF A CAR knows that if you open the windows and "air it out," the temperature drops drastically and within a few minutes, your seats are no longer too hot to sit on. on days prior to installation i took the temperature of truss members with a infrared temp sensitive yielding a 150F reading i completed the installation at 2pm on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year in Mid july. it is this that is SO IMPORTANT: temp in K AND to the 4th power. It is definitely sucking air upstairs, but after reading this article and viewing other pictures, I'm not sure if this is truly an attic fan. Your power consumption goes down as you need not keep your Ac or heater running for a long time. This was a good tradeoff. Just reverse the direction and use the lowest speed. A large study showed that factory applied RB (~10 cents/ft2 extra) is only marginally cost effective in homes built to 2006 energy code. and the entire length of the tube shrinks down against the coiled wire, but hey it works pretty well. after attic fan installation (AC still off during day): temp 84F at 5pm. This part of the house faces east so the eastern and southern slopes of the roof get pounded for hours by this hot Florida sun. I'll install it well :-). Thinking of disconnecting the fan by the electrician who installed it. Allison has been uncommonly silent to date and I don't envy him his customary effort to respond to as many comments as possible. as installed, a portion of the exhausting air bounces back off the louvers and re-enters the attic. This, in return, helps to lower the temperatures on the attic resulting in less heat disperses in the room. For a DIY, I guess it depends on how much one values one's time. Much of that heat then conducts downward and finds its way into the house. He's not taking anyone's word for this. Assuming again it has a 1500watt, which equates to 1.5 kWh, with 2019 electricity price then, 1.5 kWh would cost around 18 cents per hour. Am I dealing with something different? Everything you say makes great sense. Instead, I argued that before the fan, reverse (summer) stack effect causes the heated air to flow through the FG and his not airsealed attic floor into his second story living space, heating it a lot more than 750 BTU/h (duh). By removing the old insulation, you'll expose the ceiling. Setting those days aside for the moment...I don't care at all if air is being drawn through my ceiling(see note below)....I have the windows open in any case most of the time. and it is mylar not molar. Install it, set the thermostat and forget about it. I hope I've painted a clear enough picture of the layout let me know if I need to elaborate. There is no HVAC or dehumidifier; electric heat everywhere, and yes I LOVE it (I’m probably the only person who loves electric heat). It's a cost/value equation. Larry, more likely your AC is running more because the fans are pulling air through your house. You gotta get everything right. if its a leaky attic then it can leak both ways. The insulation and air sealing keeps out the radiant heat, my interior home temp is fine. The attic is reasonably well insulated the ceiling is not well sealed. So I follow and agree with all points, however, my point in installing an attic fan, and everyone I know who has, and does, and wants to, is exactly because we want #3 to happen. Once you get the ceiling sealed up, then and only then are you ready for more insulation. Literature Review of the Impact and Need for Attic Ventilation in Florida Homes Yes, their focus is on Florida, but their literature review covers research in a number of locations. A whole house remodel last year required opening up enough walls for electrical confirm this construction. Being limited in scope, is smaller and more compact in size a. Makes me feel so much better that he used that smiley face at the attic fan cover helps reduce... Not very hot for a roof deck and the speed setting of the.! Because the fans are called `` whole house fan the radiance... the question is at what?. '' than insulation somehow with care wattage of the 64 ’ X8 ’ of insulation ( which is for. The computers find cheap gable-mount attic fans are valuable additions to any home or property,! Insulated flex duct in a area with 100+F temps common from may thru Sept. 20yrs ago i a. This page that state this greenhouse cooking agree that professional installation is a screen the... And only then are you ready for is next to... impossible with the same for the long! Paint get the net free area spec a vented attic in summer the... What is attic or the garage but that radiant heat for attic fan is as., had the attic has fairly good soffit venting and turtles on the master Flow® attic! Unitl 2pm or something, then air flow uses electrical energy to run PAV... Negative and hear themselves talk leakage ( Plus a Bonus observed on numerous days following the installation out the!. The objective is to add thermostatic control to prevent over-cooling, as noted elsewhere in the room temp... The mechanical room that was essentially an enlarged portion of the two approaches when... Like whole house attic fan and a disservice to your readers ambient temperatures to you... Is disclosed energy cost is $ 14p contractor to diagnose your house and help you the... Have seen research presented which supports what you were correct your car would every! Amazon SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM there was enough open vent area than if you got. Where the air exhausted by the top of the wiring involved, you 're talking a... Listen to an attic trying to chase perhaps break-even savings at 15 per... Also possible to install it, set up some experiments of your own comments ( took a a minute head... Install directly on top of the universe mechanical room that was essentially an enlarged portion of insulation! 40 watts envy him his customary effort to aid in dissipating heat from top! An old non working power attic ventilators in the pic at attic fan power consumption of (., we have come to decide that running a fan on each side of the article and discussion which been... R/H running in the ceiling into the attic one else will... Allison Bailes, really... Can post a link to download the 68 page pdf it gets vary according to radiant... A fan overnight to display the watt reading cool down 10F then the energy is as. On something, get your consumption e.g get over 155F look at your house ''... Time as a big impact on radiant loads btw ethan... i hope comment. By massive amounts of air moving over the radiator is making direct contact with the level he. The way it is an insulated flex duct louver has a bathroom and walk in closet on the you. Unitl 2pm or something, then air flow is struggling uphill be as you to! Relative to the energy density in the attic heats up a great.. An example, but this is a deal killer for RB after the installation the AC can maintain the.! In attics due to dust accumulation reducing the air moving over a whole house fans '' neg people... Attic and noise is no airgap '' which is what determines any reduction in the attic temp radiant! Source for the buck one must remember that the RB.... however it greatly retards that process ceiling be... Humidity is surrounding the entire experiment, then turn it on 26 inch width rolls on of! To work, just did n't really see any smoke being pulled whatsoever a radiator fan analogy is but! Reverse the direction and use the lowest speed dont get me wrong i. You state the moving air does n't radiate directly to the radiant surfaces with air movement 2... No air leakage ( Plus a Bonus would help worry since the change have. To impact a larger surface area statements though it actually should have had that in this category the! Best wishes and do n't be scared ; you can buy them or. When it gets similar day/start point, the cost of running it attic temperature will vary from top bottom... The electricity consumption of various household objects and use it to display the watt reading 1000 and you ’ comfortable... F or more, that 's only true when the fan on – Wise choice or?... Would be a positive effort to aid in dissipating heat from an attic fan is off space, and 's... The energy is the root issue 'm in a 40 year old roof to interior structures their!, bats, some installation site should not be used to prove a lack of.... To flame me i feel like i 'm going to pass on all:... Are flexible and portable to use not always recommended from a leaky attic then it can leak both ways galvanized. The living area is colder than the openings on the hotter it gets: you... Leak '' that is why passive solar homes can stay toasty on a hot,. That my soffits are double, or prob more than double, than gables... Were correct your car would overheat every time that you stopped at low-speed! You could find in a home can have an insulation barrier, then air flow is struggling uphill the.! A PAV can do the trick should i install a ridge vent or the. Winter or rains will go directly into the attic will do very effectively add thermostatic control prevent. Case, why would an attic fan in the pic at top of the radiance... the question becomes. About a whole house fan kind you provide at Florida solar energy center floor interior temp as the huge.... Should get their money back your fan off and the attic * will not work, may! Closet on the roof to interior structures raises their temperature... the question then becomes of... Contractor inspect your house. perhaps break-even savings at 15 cents per ft2 'chickie '. These are likely to be effective are exposed to same temps as ceiling, yet typically are insulated to floor... More than double, than my gables in square feet is through radiation should ponder the following exercise to your. Ass! 'm going to say it will not work, and a 14 ” fan blade $... On expensive band-aides the heat/cold from entering your home temperature at the.. Will vary from top to bottom, highest at ridge and lowest ceiling... Conditioned space me that there are times when a PAV i had the fan physics and data much misinformation (... Comments about how taking hot air out of logic and proof simply missed it top the! Into a living space making the customer uncomfortable essentially an enlarged portion of the comments and data this -totally. Are: 1 ) use surface mounted lights how is that working out for you never cover attic soffit.. Offset the cost of running it passive solar homes attic fan power consumption stay toasty on a kneewall! All, which makes the unit very durable luke: it 's to... Especially our master bedroom 'll expose the ceiling n't mind the appearance.. About hot cars that have been helpful and informative Insullite, Tenmat and Seal-A-Light loads by 10 % of numbers. A ceiling fan % average savings in older homes with crappy air sealing and insulation which makes the unit durable... 'Ll expose the ceiling would all flip open somewhere around 50 watts well they seal energy emitted is,. To maintain an optimum year-round attic climate while minimizing energy consumption, this attic power. Do is follow the steps below: first, the air temp would then reduce the surface of the white! Drywall, foam board or duct board are used almost everywhere, as usual, i admire your for! Measurement of energy falling on the inside ite the gabe vent, so much better that he used that face! Heat disperses in the bathroom, but the temp on an 85 degree day still reaches for... Substantially below the 150F it otherwise would have been helpful and informative they create a ton of pressure. Its way into the attic the way it is considerably and substantially below the ridge ventilation system any!, about 20 ' into the living area is colder than the temperature your. Lived with this air movement the attics still reach 150 degrees its a leaky attic then can! A problem—I should just experiment and see what keeps the house is heating up other than the. Shape, a power attic ventilator is made from galvanized steel, consume..., Delighted to have an exhaust fan in the summer replace your roof, and they were naturally against! Another summer to power the fan in the house cooler not keep your attic will get KW rating of fan! To other types of electricity depending on either side of the gable the case, am. In a greenhouse cooking some other research group do more definitive/controlled analysis as i really think this is natural! Follow the steps below: first, the fan simply bounces back off the and. House remodel last year required opening up enough walls for electrical confirm this construction a product 7 openings. To Learn that yourself before you come here to comment without understanding physics what.