When you think of the ventilation in your home, you often don’t give much consideration to the attic ventilation. However, if you own your home, you need to keep it in mind for some serious good reasons. If you have inadequate venting in the attic, it can greatly reduce your comfort, shorten the lifespan of vital roofing materials, as well as raise your utility bills. While a few vents being installed can help with these frightening outcomes, you may want to give thought to installing an attic fan.
What Does an Attic Fan Do
These fans are inexpensive and come equipped with humidistats. If your fan comes with a humidistat, it can easily manage the excess humidity in the attic during the months that it gets cold. During the warmer months, your attic can reach temperatures of up to 150 degrees F. You will find without an attic fan, poor ventilation, and no airflow in the attic can cause it to account for up to 20% of your cooling bill. The attic fan will help maintain a lower temperature to help you save money and not waste needed energy.
Choosing an Attic Fan
When trying to decide on a fan to choose, you have two basic designs to choose from. One is made for installations into the roof, while the other is mounted onto a gable wall. The roof fans are then mounted on the plastic or sheet metal base for flashing. Some cutting in the ceiling will be required to install the roof-mounted fan. Make it close to the peak, then install the fan.
It is a tad bit easier to install a gable-wall fan, as no shingles or roofing is disturbed. They can replace gable vents. Sometimes the vent is large enough to have the fan mounted behind it. They draw a low amperage and can maintain a large attic area. The thermostat will be in a control box, coming pre-wired when installed.
Attic Fan Benefits
There are a few advantages to adding an attic fan into your home. Here are the top 3 benefits:
- Helps Protect Your Home– An attic fan will manage the temperature that will travel to your roof. High degrees of heat that travel through the roof can greatly reduce its lifespan. The attic fan will help expel some of this heat while help prevents moisture buildup. Moisture build-up can cause mold while wreaking havoc on the structure of the roof.
- Utility Bill Reduction– With an attic fan, your AC isn’t working as hard to keep the house cool in the warmer months. This means less electricity will be spent monthly, greatly reducing the amount you pay.
- Temperature Improvement– Fans are built to help reduce the heat in the hotter months, making it more simple to control the temperature of the whole house.
Professional Electric, based out of New Orleans, is able to help with attic fan installation, and you can always get an estimate as well as advice when trying to do it on yourself. However, it is always safer to entrust the job to a licensed professional.