When sun rays fall on your roof, it absorbs the heat and radiates it down to your attic. This is why attics are always the hottest spots in most homes.

You will notice that during the summer in a regular 80 degrees warm afternoon, your attic can get as hot as 150 degrees Fahrenheit. These extreme temperatures can cause damage to some home components that are located in the attic space. 

Fortunately, attic fans can help make a huge difference in terms of the heat effect and the energy costs involved in reducing the heat. In this post, you will learn about all there is to know about attic fans.

What Is An Attic Fan?

Attic fans are exhaust fans attached to an attic’s roof or wall. These fans usually act as a system for exchanging air in an attic. 

While the attic fan transfers the inside air outside, it pulls the outside air into the attic through intake vents in the soffits, eaves, or gables. 

Attic fans are great supplements for a home’s passive venting systems. They help to increase the energy efficiency of your air conditioning system, and they also help improve the ventilation in an attic. 

What Does An Attic Fan Do?

Attic fans help to get rid of the excessively hot air from inside the attic by drawing in cool air from the outside. In this process, they help cool the air in the attic while reducing the burden on your air conditioner by preventing hot air from leaking into your home.

Most times, attics have a form of passive venting through soffit vents in the eaves, allowing cool air to enter the attic. When the cool air gets inside through the soffit vents, they will warm up and blend in with the already present hot air in the attic. 

Eventually, the hot hair may escape through vents at the roof’s gables, but the cool air will keep getting hot. This ends up as a self-repeating ventilation process. 

So even if your roof has ridge vents, soffit vents, or some other form of built-in ventilation, it is still advisable to install an attic fan. Attic fans are the best ways to drive hot, muggy air away from the attic.

Additionally, attic fans often operate on a low energy consumption level. You can program them to only run at a specific temperature. 

Moreover, some work with solar power and don’t need additional wiring. This means you won’t incur any extra electricity costs from using them. 

In summary, attic fans can help:

• Reduce the temperature in your upper-floor rooms by 10 degrees
• Prolong the lifespan of your roofing materials and other major home components
• Save up on electricity costs. They can reduce your home air-conditioning costs by 30%

What Types Of Attic Fans Are There?

Different types of attic fans can help improve the ventilation in your home’s attic. You will need to carefully consider your needs and preferences when you want to get one.

Note that getting the right one that works best for you can significantly help reduce your energy consumption. We’ve listed the types of attic fans below to help with your decision-making process.

Traditional Attic Fans

This is the most common form of attic fan found in many American homes. It offers strong attic ventilation that allows a lot of air to flow through the vents.

These traditional attic fans always feature a thermostat and can run at a single speed with a maximum airflow capacity of 2,000 cubic feet per minute. 

Since they are the most affordable options, they are also the most common type of attic fan. Fortunately, their affordable pricing makes them more efficient.

They can adequately help reduce the cost of your AC unit’s energy.

Smart attic fans

These attic fans provide the most recent form of advancements in attic ventilation. They usually feature an integrated thermostat and/or humidistat that helps them adequately regulate the temperature and humidity in the attic space. 

Depending on how hot the attic area is, these attic fans use their built-in thermostat to alter the speed of their motor. This helps to improve energy efficiency when the levels are high.

Smart attic fans are capable of keeping attics from becoming extremely hot.

What makes them more desirable is that they achieve their purpose in a sophisticated fashion. For instance, smart attics usually feature smartphone apps that help you control and regulate them. 

They enable you to check the state of your attic and adjust the fan’s settings.

Solar attic fans

Solar attic fans are attic fans if you want to adequately ventilate your attic without raising your electricity costs. They will help cool your attic without the use of grid electricity. 

As their name suggests, solar attic fans make use of solar electricity. Hence, they don’t need electricity to work.

With the use of solar energy, they can push out the air from the attic and pull cool air from the outside. Some solar attic fans come with an AC/DC inverter which enables you to use solar power during the day and grid power at night to run the fan.

In general, solar attic fans will help keep your home cool and reduce your home’s electricity costs. They also help reduce your carbon emission footprint since they use solar energy, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases.

How Much Does An Attic Fan Cost?

According to Costimates, the typical cost average for an attic fan is between $230 – $790. Note that the cost of getting an attic fan will also depend on factors such as the fan’s energy source, mounting location, controls and features, and air flow rate.

How To Install An Attic Fan 

Below is a detailed guide on how to install an attic fan:

Choose where you want to install the attic fan

You must first choose where you want to install the attic fan. Ideally, placing the attic fan around two feet below the roof crest is better.

Consider positioning the fan in the horizontal plane, so it faces the roof’s center. The ventilation will favor just that side if you install the fan towards one side. 

You should also try to keep the fan away from any passive vents. Installing an attic fan immediately next to a passive vent will cause it to draw in air from the passive vent, preventing hot attic air from easily getting out.

Cut attic fan opening

Use a pencil a measuring tape to mark the center between the rafters. After identifying the center, you should drill a screw through the sheathing and the shingles. 

Drill the hole to the exterior and ensure it protrudes through the shingles.

Ensure that you don’t cut into the attic rafters or trusses because doing so may cause structural damage to your home.

Frame the opening

Ensure to frame the opening with a framework or a plywood mounting board.

Install the louver or shutter

Fasten the shutter with screws. For the right procedures, you might want to speak with the manufacturer, depending on your siding.

Mount the attic fan

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to mount the fan.

Install the controller

Remove the controller’s lid and any knobs if necessary. This will enable you to follow the manufacturer’s directions for positioning the device and screwing the controller to the mounting plate or studs.

Make the wiring connections

Ensure to properly make the wiring connections. You can hire the services of an electrician if you cannot handle the wiring.

Who To Call For Attic Fan Installation And Repair

Maintaining good ventilation in your attic is important to the integrity of your roof. An attic fan can be a great way to ensure your home is properly ventilated. Roofers or handymen usually have the required expertise for repairing attic fans. If you are interested in having an attic fan installed, contact Green Attic today. We offer solar power attic fans to help keep your home well-ventilated and protect your investment for years to come.