does putting a fan in the attic helpdoes putting a fan in the attic help

does putting a fan in the attic help28 May does putting a fan in the attic help

These products are designed to run during the evening and early morning (the coolest parts of the day). I am not sure what this is for. I made my own whole house fan that goes in the attic hatch of - Reddit "In his recent book, Water in Buildings, Rose summarizes what he has learned from years of careful research: Does ventilation significantly reduce shingle temperatures? The attic, apparently like most on the island, doesn't have any insulation. Clearing up the ongoing confusion around the usefulness (or futility) of attic fans. Whole-House Fan Versus Attic Fan: Which Do You Need? - Lowe's Bottom line, for my unique circumstances the PAV works, a bridge to the next step. The air-intake duct is connected to a damper box containing a large hinged motorized damper blade. I had a home in San Antonio, TX. We could get R-5 out of an inch of a high-quality foam. This provides much-needed ventilation, and is a powerful addition to your HVAC system. If you don't have AC, your attic fan can help cool the house, but if you do, the attic fan is really ideal for off-peak heat. When I was about 16 my father installed an Attic power vent fan. Building science shows a different result, however. Homeowners in hot climates need to understand the difference between whole-house fans and powered attic ventilators By Martin Holladay | October 26, 2012 Open your windows before you turn on the fan. But if you're having a heat wave, and the average temperatures (night and day) are above your comfort level, eventually everything is going to get hot, indoors and out, with our without insulation. Before addressing these recurring questions, its important to define our terms. Thanks for the input. If you are required to open windows to create displacement you are adding a human element that is not acceptable. Hi all, just purchased a house and noticed in my attic there is a box fan running constantly that is blowing air out through a vent. Install a model manufactured by Tamarack -- one with a tight-fitting insulated damper that closes when not in use -- and you're all set. But I was wondering if I would just be better off installing a ridge vent along that main roof/attic. Let's assume that the attic temperature is 32F, and the indoor temperature is 72F. The usual way to vent an attic is with soffit and ridge vents. Thoughts on my Tamarack + an in- and an -out attic fan solution? Homeowners should avoid them like the plague. Ideally, you have sealed your attic floor (otherwise known as your ceiling) tightly against air leakage. Damper leakage is minimal at 25 Pascals, its about 1.4% of total fan flow. And I'm not sure what a split-AC coil is, but the evaporator coil is in the same air handler, and the AC and furnace use the same ducts. A single stage AC unit operates at well below it's nameplate efficiency during the first 8-10 minutes of a cycle, and doesn't reach it's steady state nameplate efficiency until it's been running 12-15 minutes. well you've confirmed I definately made the wrong choice. We just had our shingles replaces with white energy-star shingles, and had the attic floor insulation brought up to code. But it's too bad that you don't have a louvered opening in your ceiling instead of a hatch that needs to be opened and closed. Attic fans can save you money on cooling costs. Thanks for catching my error. I was thinking of installing one in my house, but our furnace is in the attic. David, (Yes, we insulated and sealed the vent (drained the water and cleaned/painted them inside in the fall. What studies? http://www.esource.com/esource/getpub/public/pdf/cec/CEC-TB-4_NightBreeze.pdf I wonder what the energy consumption difference would be, between an R-5 cover, and the R-26 advocated as the low end by Erik North. Response to Carlos Alvarado First, we need to distinguish between three different types of ventilation fans. I noticed the difference in room comfort once I closed the registers. Even running without water is good to act as a 'whole house fan' at night. Q. In fact, energy raters and home performance contractors who do blower-door testing know that it is very rare to find a house with a tight ceiling. Also we have debated about putting in a whole house fan, since there are some weeks when its cool outside but hot inside the house with no wind outside to help. If your roof is uninsulated, the long-term solution is to install insulation with an adequate R-value in your roof assembly. But the house is incredibly comfortable. We could make a similar comparison with your example 40"x40" fan. (For more information on this type of ventilation fan, see Designing a Good Ventilation System.). Robert, Attic Ventilation: Does My Home Need It? - Advice From Bob Vila Air quality, controlling the inlet source, is a huge concern. Do Attic Ventilation Fans Really Work? | Constellation What are the pros and cons of attic ventilation fans? Powered attic ventilators cause more problems than they solve, so if solar-powered models have gone up in power, that makes them less desirable than ever, not more desirable. A. What would be wrong with replacing the power attic fan. "Is it worth replacing a functioning fan?". "What's wrong with a large CFM attic power vent fan (say 1400-1600 CFM) and a set of ceiling shutters?". In North TX and OK (where wife grew up, and West Texas attic fans were great. Humidity is generally miserable. The condenser/compressor unit is outside, and the evaporator coil is in series with the gas furnace. That works too. This gives an area of ~2.25 sq ft. But if I had to make a guess based on your description of your home's performance, I'd guess that something is seriously wrong with your air barrier and insulation details -- a common problem with cathedral ceilings. For more information, see Creating a Conditioned Attic. If it's just 6" of blown fiberglass or R19 batts (common in 1981), an overblow of 3-6" of cellulose would improve the performance considerably, since low-density fiberglass is fairly translucent to infra-red (radiating heat) coming down from the hot roof deck. ), are what we're going to cover in this article. Some cathedral ceilings are vented, and some are unvented. Most attic installations are routed through the garage. Let's say it costs you $5 a month (or $35 a season) to operate. Insulation is still the best approach. He can do some things well, but cant do anything really well.". A sealed-combustion furnace might be able to operate, but I still wouldn't recommend the experiment. Kay, We moved to Kauai about a year ago. Open flow on both gables The NightBreeze has been around for a while; I first wrote an article about the product 8 years ago, for an article that appeared in the September 2004 issue of Energy Design Update. What are my options? Thank you. Response to Micah Morgan (The effect with the garage door closed seemed to be slightly negative, at least unhelpful. But attic fans can lead to a leaky roof and loss of cool air if improperly installed, and the constant humming noise can be annoying for some people. So, the trade-off varies depending on your climate of course. Whole House Fans for sealed attics? If you are investing in new insulation, I strongly urge you to install spray polyurethane foam on the underside of your roof sheathing. Before the fan I could put my hand on the ceiling and feel the heat. A fan, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, is "an ardent devotee, an enthusiast." Fanatic is defined as "a person marked by an extreme unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause." The distinction, then, apparently rests on whether the enthusiasm is ardent or unreasoning. Like Gustave, I live in an ideal climate for whole house fan (coastal California). Attic fans work a little differently. - Lee Sam. Increasing duct insulation is part of the plan, I have already wrapped about half of the duct work, which means I have done the easily accessible part. Other factors have not changed. And, yes, unfortunately the AC equipment and ducts are in the attic. Without spending a fortune I was just going to replace the ventilation fan in the attic. This one was sold at Costco for a while. Most need to be connected to a 120 volt power source, but there are also solar powered fans available, such as the one pictured below. Do they save money or electricity? 1. Since for example, insulation is helpful year round whereas the attic ventilation is only favorable during air conditioning season. Walk barefoot on an asphalt road and see how that works. Attic bedroom with no AC but a gable fan It certainly may be a good, average example, but I'd like to take other information from your article, to suggest a significantly different example. Position switches on windows or automatic inlet dampers, something is needed. So are the gable vents enough or should I install ridge vents? My article provides several links to studies by researchers, including researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) and Advanced Energy in Raleigh, North Carolina. On the one hand, attic fans may improve ventilation and lower temperatures. Q. Sounds like the AC coil is in series with the gas furnace, using the same air handler, with the condenser unit located elsewhere, unlike package units where they'are all under the same sheet metal. Standard duct insulation consists of fiberglass insulation with a polyethylene jacket. In the case of my house, it is impossible to lay down another layer of insulation. I am not making conclusions as to the relative difficulty of either of those approaches, but a quick look says that to insulate 2000 ft^2 of attic space to R-38 vs. R-30 has a marginal cost of about $375. With a cooler attic, the A/C system had lower heat gain, therby reducing the supply air temperaure at the diffusers. Everything is easily accessible including power, I would control the fan with a switch and/or a thermostatically controlled switch in the attic. Roof has vent intake openings, but don't have top exhausts. Media Platforms Design Team. if late in the afternoon the house temps rise above the outdoor air temps there is actually a cooling benefit. In the summer, the upstairs bedrooms are unbearably hot, due to the ceiling radiating attic heat. Neither seemed to help. Response to Kaye Kittrell #66 Just asked about using a power attic vent with shutters. Martin, Hi Martin. Evan, Combining an Attic Vent Fan with a Roof Ridge Vent We are approaching our first summer in Portland OR and it's already hot in our attic bedroom/office on these warm spring days. So, for example, going from R-30 to R-38 insulation is the equivalent of lowering the attic temperature by 15 deg F (assuming starting point of 150 F attic temp and 78 F interior temp). Martin: Don't you mean it strongly pressurizes the attic? Whatever that is. Your article comes across as biased. In many homes, this type of mold is associated with a wet basement or a wet crawlspace. http://www.atrendyhome.com/romowhhofano.html, Here is a link to a Tamarack fan that is optimized for air sealing (and that provides high-R shutters controlled by a motorized operator): In that article, I wrote: "The NightBreeze includes a variable-speed air handler with an ECM blower, a hydronic heating coil, a large motorized damper to control the intake of exterior air, and a wall-mounted control unit. Can Attic Fans Help Prevent Ice Dams? - Ice Dam Guys: Best-Rated Ice Become a GBA Prime member and get full access to GBA articles, enyclopedia, videos, CAD library, and more. Gary, If it doesn't -- fix the panel. We told the roofing company not to remove the attic fan. Night Breeze doesn't need windows opened Our house is total electric. But in the real world, we look for practical solutions that people will actually implement. I don't know if that matters, but it seems it might, with the air being able to circulate under the house as well. Our house is about 2000 square feet. Response to Fan Installation People who live in old, uninsulated houses make compromises all the time. Right now the registers are closed manually and I will reopen when I next turn on the a/c at the thermostat, but that is not a long term solution. 2. On the third point, the jury is still out. Response to Derek Roff The AC handler is in the attic. Maybe you are talking about a roof-mounted fan that is solar powered -- a fan that is designed to pull air from your rafter bays. I want to address this issue so I am exploring solutions. So everything else being equal, any house would benefit from a cooler attic. "Will installing additional venting to attic solve the icicle problem?". Heat conduction from the attic to the house is proportional to the temperature difference divided by the R-value. If you do that, your fans will operate better than with the current controls. In other words, the rate of heat flow through a building assembly (in Btu/h) is equal to the area of the assembly (in ft) times the U-factor (in Btu/ft hr F) of the assembly times the T (in F).". Here are links to two articles you might want to read: Sorry for confusion In addition, my garage is so hot that I cannot comfortably work in there. And I suppose that even if we're really careful with it, we couldn't guarantee that the next owners would be just as careful if we sell the house. Seal the living space attic floor and implement passive ventilation improvements as Joe Lstiburek suggests, then blow in cellulose. In addition the the article that Charlie suggested, you may want to read this one: Prevent Ice Dams With Air Sealing and Insulation. To perform the calculation you requested, we'll have to make some assumptions. in diameter. For more information on different ways to insulate a cathedral ceiling, see How to Build an Insulated Cathedral Ceiling. A half-ton window shaker can still do a LOT of dehumidification, even if it's not keeping up with the sensible load, but the windows & exterior doors have to stay closed for it to work, since any outdoor air introduced adds to the humidity load. But research has shown that, even in a house with AC, powered attic ventilators increase homeowners' electricity bills -- they don't lower them. We do have blackout shades and close those during the day, which makes it dreary. Split AC as in, "not a package AC.gas-furnace" unit. This applies to whole house fans as well. The only way be reasonably comfortable was to be in one the of rooms with the AC and have it running. In addition to providing nighttime ventilation cooling, the NightBreeze system provides year-round whole-house ventilation. I never had a problem with icicles before the new roof and gutters. "Do the new fans come with an outside temp sensor to coordinate with the AC?". Since air takes the path of least resistance, some of it will most likely be coming from the conditioned space in your home. Rusty, Consider a less-expensive solution that may have some drawbacks. So I guess there would have to be a duct from the fan discharge through the roof. I don't recommend the installation of a whole-house fan in any attic that includes a furnace. While I agree that more insulation is generally better, I wonder how important it is to attain large R-values in the cover for a whole house fan installed in the floor of the attic/ceiling of the hallway. The whole reason your attic is hot in the first place is that there are leaks or poor insulation between your attic and your living space. Regardless of what the insulation level is, there will be some level of energy transfer from the warmer attic to the cooler house. J. Freeman, After all, if you're sitting in a hot room and turn the ceiling fan on, it just moves the hot air around. From start to finish, powered attic ventilators are nothing but trouble. Q. Does your attic have insufficient ventilation openings that will cause an attic fan to draw through your house? What if I could kill 2 birds with one stone and installed a whole house fan in the garage ceiling to draw in air (albeit warm air, but air movement nonetheless) to the garage and at the same time push the same 90 degree air into the attic to replace the 130 air that is up there. Q. They are generally filled with (invisible) holes. If you have an old lawnmower and some Christmas ornaments up there, it probably doesn't matter if the garage is 80 degrees or 110 degrees. You have described two buildings with "hot ceilings." Martin, More information on this topic can be found here: http://www.jlconline.com/Images/Letters_tcm96-1126954.pdf Yes, of course more insulation with no moving parts and year round benefit is the better option. Bob, The plans called for R38 in all ceilings, R19 in walls and crawlspace. What about a garage attic?? I do think that under CERTAIN circumstances an attic fan can be beneficial. Do I install a whole-house fan, but duct it out through the roof? It is a low slope ashpalt shingle roof with deteriorated batt attic insulation. Any advice on cooling a house in Kauai? But let me finish explaining the difference I am contemplating in insulation location. It's very easy to write that better insulation, radiant barriers, and light-colored roofs are components of a superior solution. Just use the whole-house fan when nighttime temperatures are cool and daytime temperatures are hot -- that's all you need. ), weather variables, and behavioral changes. If an owner could get an increase in roof lifetime by 4 years by keeping the attic cooler, that would cover the cost of about 20,000 kWh at $0.10/kWh! If a house has been air sealed by someone with an understanding of the air leakage, then it would seem that the depressurization would be minimal and the attic fan could then be beneficial. Continue reading to learn whyor just skip ahead to learn how to cool them off here. He showed me that even in Florida you can do some good with ventilation cooling, at least during a few weeks of dry weather in the fall. Bob, (assuming even a rudimentary level of air sealing). On the other hand, each attic fan took about $100 and hour to install. Response to J Wing You live in a mild climate, and the occupants of your house have managed to survive for 70 or 80 years without insulation. Once the outdoor temperature is equal to or lower than the indoor air temp, air leakage in the attic floor isn't hurting anything at that moment.). Quieter radon systems. Repeat this on all the blades and test the fan for noise. (It seems to me there is) But a sealed attic has no vents to dump the fan air from the interior of the house. "I currently have a ridge vent so, I am mystified.". Newer construction calls for some attics to be completely sealed, no vents. Alas, air doesn't pay any attention to the smart arrows in illustrations. Most of these fans require an 8-10" duct. However, if you really care about shingle temperatures, the best solution is clear: choose white shingles! Ahh, the differences from living in the NE and the SW (and the South) is really different on how we live with our environment. The air flows through the rafter vents to the peak of the roof. Roofers hate them because they are a frequent source of roof leaks. I live in Louisiana and this summer the attic has gotten to be over 140 degrees on a regular basis. Lived there for years comfortably without AC and also lived in Philadelphia, SF, NYC and upstate NY without AC (i like being warm) but some folks who go to the house in Kauai wish there was AC from about 5-9 PM mostly in July and August. The mind begins to reel as other solutions begin to present themselves. Response to David Miller Yet (if I understand correctly) you have R-38 insulation on your garage ceiling. I just had 2 attic ventilator fans installed in my 1979 home. I have an area of wall where I can install it, so I won't need any holes in the roof. Additionally, the hot ceiling effect was alleviated. Also, like many of the homes here, our house isn't built directly on a foundation. Dan, I currently open the downstairs door and stick a box fan in an upstairs window and it cools off in 5 or 6 hours. Attic Fan Ventilation. During those hottest 3 months last year our house heated up quickly in the mornings and by early afternoon it was often hotter in the house than it was outside on the decks. The ventilators are programmed to come on when the attic reaches 100 degrees & go off when it reaches 90.

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