Attic Fan, How to cool your attic and home
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Attic fans are installed in order to reduce the heat during summer time in your attic. a properly install attic fan can reduce your attic temperature by as much as 30 degrees taking it from 150 down to 100 and in return your AC will work less and your calling will not radiant so much heat during summer hot days.
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i put an old square fan in the bathroom cubbyhole access on the cieling. the old 100 plus year old house was unbearable in the evening. it must have been 20C warmer inside even though it was nice and cool in the evenings outside. so i slapped this fan, it fit perfectly as if it was made for this opening and it made a huge divference, the next evening it was nice and cool, i let it run all day and amazingly enough, i rarely had to run my two portable ACs during the day. this thing took the air from the main living area and expelled it which incidently was just off the kitchen.
i googled old house fixes and venting old house attics and immediately came up with the term "whole house fan" and the fact that this system has been around for 100 years, since electricity was invented. i asked people about it, they never heard the term but immediately seized on the idea. all day the roofing tiles heat up and transfer this heat down into the living area in the evening especially you can notice the difference obviously.
i saved on two 1200 watt AC, simple 180sq ft ACs. for a 20 dollar fan for five summers but the comfort was priceless. i couldnt believe it when others never heard about this solution, and simply just cranked the ACs up. i told everyone i knew.
Hey, my house is old and I deal with unbelievable heat in summers as well. When you say you put it in the cubby hole, do you mean in was up in the attic? Like you closed the cubby hole? Or was it open and the fan transfered air from the house up into the attic?
That fan will not draft properly with that open vent beside it .
Make sure the opening cut below the ridge vent is at least 1.5" wide on each side for a maximum opening of 3". I cut my openings 2" on each side. A substantial reduction of heat during summer months. Bodda Bing, Bodda Boom!!!
I just installed a QuietCool fan made in the 🇺🇸 in the gable vent. I put Rockwool insulation between the joists and then 1/2” untreated plywood to cover it all up. I had a lot or wiring over the joists so I used Furing strips 1x2” and it gave me the additional height needed to lay the plywood down. In the winter my heating bill was cut by 30% and now I’ll see the difference in the summer shortly (it’s May 10 in Long Island NY and still high 50s). My AC will definitely cool my 2800 SQ. Ft home faster and keep it cooler for longer periods
I've seen gable vent fans that have a solar panel which mounts on the roof. Blows 2400cu ft per hour. No electric use and comes on with the sun so it's automatic.😊😊
I am about to install one in my attic. my house has ridge vent and soffit venting as well as gable vents but the attack still gets well over 120 F degrees on a hot day in CT. My thought is that to run an electric attic fan and keep the AC running less makes sense. The cost to run the fan has to be less than the Compressor with a huge fan and 240v circuit and the fan that is also needed to run in the air exchanger. My fan cost $115 and the wire electrical boxes are probably another $20 I also bought a thermometer so I can track the temp differences. I can install it myself. I am looking forward to seeing if the electric bill goes down in August. I also have the theory that even if some air is being drawn from the living space that it will help lift the colder air from the floor and pull it up to the ceiling and keep the room more evenly cooled. Time will tell. maybe it will make a video!
I’m thinking of doing this also to my attic. I’d like to know the out come. It’s 108 in ca right now and it’s just after. 7 pm
So… did it work? It’s been 2 years
Nice video and information! I like the sealing all the air gaps thing.Wow what quality and craftsmanship! 👍
Those fans shown... are "Home Depot" specials - only last a couple of years... don't buy them.
They break?
My HD fan is still running after 20 years.
15 hear manufactured warranty
A better idea, time to rethink unconditioned attic spaces. The attic should be within the conditioned envelope of the house. Difficult if not nearly impossible to retrofit but from scratch, this should be code. There is no logical reason for a hot or cold attic space.
Great video. Short and to the point. Thanks
Thanks for the video! Looks like my attic and can't wait to try this.
We have 3 roof vents (not ridge vents, these are installed on the roof surface itself) in our attic. These vents are mounted nearly at the ridge level, so they're quite high up. The attic floor has blow in cellulose insulation. The central air unit/duct work is in the attic.
The attic has a dormer, with a 24" x 24" window that I open and place a screen in to keep out birds and insects. This window is a minimum of 12' from all the vents.
I just installed four 25cfm 120VAC "PC case" fans (two per vent in the smaller vents) and one 370cfm fan in the largest vent. The smaller fans use 4 watts each, the larger uses 72 watts (about 104 watts total).
I was led to believe that doing something like this would keep the attic cooler, thereby making the load on the AC a lot less. Based on your video, it seems as though I'm headed in the right direction.
My questions... Is it possible to have too much air evacuation? Should I cut down on the number of fans? Due to the size of the dormer window, I don't think having enough air flow to feed the fan output will be an issue. It shouldn't load the fans too much and I don't think I'll be drawing in any air from inside the house, just through the open dormer window.
Does this sound OK? Our home is 96yrs old and on the hottest days the AC struggles to keep the house cool during the day, just hoping to help it out some by keeping the attic cooler.
Thanks for any input you can provide!
Try this. On a totally cloud free day above 90 degrees put a wireless thermometer in your attic about 3-4 feet above your ceiling insulation. Note the high temperature in your attic with your fans off. Then on a different cloud free day with the same temperature outside note the high in the attic with the fans on all day. You’ll quickly discover that fans do absolutely nothing to lower the temperature. The only time you’ll get a benefit from attic fans is if you’re in an extremely old home without modern day attic ventilation which has been around for over 40 years now. Also in older homes if they had their roofs redone most likely the attic ventilation has been updated since it cost practically nothing to do.
@@tomdurkins It will actually make it worse if you have a ridge vent...it short circuits the both of them as the fan in the roof will draw the hot air from outside from the ridge vent instead of from the sofits...this guy is giving bad advice if you have a ridge vent period
it is absolutely possible to over-vent. If the fans cant draw air from the window, it will pull conditioned air up from the house, making your AC work even harder. Thats why this guy air seals the attic floor (the ceiling) before doing this, but it also requires ensuring the air flow cant pull from the ridge vent or soffits, forcing the air from the intake side to the other side. ANY leaks in this sealing will make things worse. Attic fans are generally not recommended anymore from the experts, because if they arent installed as part of a "system", they cause higher electricity bills and lower the efficency of the AC system.
A few guys from your company came to work with me you need to learn a little more about Insalation then I don’t know what they were doing if you need any help you can always send a message
I think it is netter to push cool air in rather than try to blow hot air out. Cooler air coming in will disperse better. If a fan is blowing out, it will create a single air current and all the hot above air will just stay in place and not cool. Adding 1 fan in and 1 fan out compounds the issue and is not effective. In your example, the intake air will be right next to the fan and the whole attic space will stay stagnant. By pointing the fan in, it forces the cooler air to mix will the hot air.
Short and sweet video and to the point. Thank you 👍👍
Very Short & Concise , Very Helpful ; Thankyou!
Very good video, this is a Great way to cool an attic. Thank You
Thank you very much sir,
But what about winter season?
It is going to be freezing cold around the attic, how do you seal or block air tight?
you don't the attic needs ventilation in winter also
I want to put exactly those pieces in my attic. Can you list the parts that you used for this project, specifically the attic fan model and the window pieces you used?
I belive you should have an additional attic fan on the opposite side so that youre not trying to blow air from a sealed room... its better to have two so that you are pulling in air on one side and pushing it and the dreadful 180 degree air and moisture gets pushed out. Got to have air flow bro
Great video and great information
Please help me. Is that the correct installation. I was told I would have to block the other side of the gable vent with plywood. My house is 56 foot long and I want to create a flow of air through the entire attic. So the only opening on the one side should be the opening of the fan-what is right?
I know this is probably too late, but you are correct. Air takes the path of least resistance. Whatever leaves needs to come from somewhere. You will still drag from the other gable vent or soffit, but not as effectively. That said, depending on CFM it may not matter.
Can you use this with a roof wind turbine?
I see a potential error - or at least something that wasn't addressed... The AC unit doesn't take hot attic air and cool it, it recyles already cooled air from the home interior. That said, cooling the ceiling by cooling the attic is likely worthwhile. At the very least, it can make things more pleasant for the AC repair guy who will inevitably have to service that equipment. Hope the fan is resiliently mounted so that the hum it makes, doesn't transmit into the house.
Attic AC units break down frequently due to the extreme heat in Attica so this is a good way to keep your attic AC running smoother longer.
@@GuenevereSchwien Putting HVAC units in the attic should be against building code.
Do you have any hard data of the sort of temperature decrease one can expect when installing an attic fan?
I don't have any hard data, but fwiw the temperature in my attic is about 15 degrrees hotter than the outside air. IE: it got to 92 today, and it was 107 in my attic. This is without any sort of AC in it.
Not installed properly. If you can reach around the front of the fan, the air will escape. Also i hope there is not a tiny screen blocking the fans air discharge
Any Air Flow Is Better Than No Airflow !!!
Great video. Am Israel chai 👍
I do duct cleaning i see mold in attics all the time I tell all my customers to do this
I was seriously considering installing one in my attic, however, when I touch the ceiling on a really hot day, I don't feel any warmth. This means the attic fan won't hardly make any difference in making the house cooler, right?
it helps remove excess mositure that builds up. The humidity which can lead to mold issues
Where are you located? I’m in Bonita Springs Florida. I like to do one attic fan.
Great info, thank you
Is it still important to seal all air gaps if loose cellulose insulation is going to be used in attic? Insulation comp. is going to do some sealing, but stated that because cellulose is heavier than fiberglass, it was not that important. What do you think? Thanks!
HI Sylvia YES very impotent to do air seal properly please make sure with them that they are not "cutting corners" on this step, ask for pictures of there work they are doing
Thank you very much for your reply, will look for a company that’s willing to the job properly.
Good info. Thanks friend.
That is not going to work. You got the fan next to another vent the fan is going to suck air in from the other vent. Blow it out then suck it back in all over again
Thank you
Easy understandable video
I still dont know why my house gets hot, the heat is coming out from the vents. I got new insulation added and new windows to whole house. I'm assuming they cover the holes in the attic. So I dont know what else to do. Any suggestions. ? Thank you in advance. I'm in temecula California by the way.
when you say vents do you mean ridge vents?
@@MrKMC92 what is ridge vents?
@@sermargarcia2418 They're vents located on and near the roof. They help with ventilation so that the attic can breathe a little better.
@@MrKMC92 yes the attic people covered those with the insulation.
@@sermargarcia2418 Hmm. I'm not sure why they did that. My only guess is maybe an attic fan to help. If you have new insulation and windows, I would imagine that would eliminate most heat.
I have 1000sf home in South Texas, ac unit is in attic like this one. House has 1 gable vent on each side but no soffit vents. I will add 14 soffit vents to help supply air to fan. How much $$ did you save after this install.
Did u do it
Dumb question, why have the AC in the hottest place in the house?
I had same question, but I would like to put a swimming pool heat pump heater in the attic so it will get “free heat” in the early and late pool season that might not be as plentiful at the pool patio.
I'm in FL and my roof has a ridge vent. My fan was installed to blow fan out of the gable window. But this means air is coming in thru the ridge vent (which is super-heated by the roof); I'm wondering if i should install the fan to draw air in instead? Anyone have any thoughts?
Did you run separate circuit for those fans or tap in on circuit
Question: can you use that air seal on the can lights too? And what air seal did you use ? Thank you
Could you just put a floor fan up there?
It's called the delta
why put a air conditioner in the attic get that thing outta there!
Hello I'm getting ready to install a fan similar to that i have two attic vents like the one in video side by side do i need to cover the other attic vent with ply wood and just have one with the fan over it to maximize flow or is it ok to just put the fan over one vent like you did in this video and leave the other vent uncovered ? please advise thank you
Can I ask you a question, can I cool my room if I place an intake fan beside my exhaust fan. They have the same Rotation Per Second as well and both fans are placed in the same spot
yes, cool air is your intake and hot air is then sucked out of the exhaust the top of the roof
Shabbat Shalom nice video
Hi!
I have an attic fan. The AC unit is also in attic. I’m having insulation blown in. Do I need to install a gable vent on apposite wall where fan is located? Thank you for your time.
Hi Sylvia, any air intake large enough will work, it can be gable or vent or Roof soffit just make sure that there is easy air intake abilities so the fan will not suck air from your living space, also proper air seal should be done in the attic.
Did u do it
CC CC Not yet, haven’t found a comp. I feel will do the proper job.
@@sylviacriveraful :(
@M Detlef common in the west coast . The ac for the first floor is in the first floor. For the second floor, it's in the attic. Shorter travel distance for cool air
Any AC putting out a paltry 72-78 degrees needs to be fixed or replaced.
It will run far too much and raise your bill sky high.
How much to install need one
Yaa..pull the 140 degree air past your unit..better to pull the outside air past it ..
which is preferred side of the house or top of the center of the roof? And do you only need one, or two for a 1100 square foot home? Thanks in advance
HI Christian, for 1100sqft attic space a 1450-1600CFM fan will be sufficient just make sure you have enough air intake so you don't create negative pressure and suck air from your living space.
But what if you use window units will this help?
yes anything to get rid of hot air in the attic helps. Think of it as a convection oven, if no where to get rid of hot air it becomes a trapped hot humid system.
good video with a lot of stupid comments..
I have gable vents at each end of my house and when my new roof was installed a continuous ridge cap vent was added but the house still gets hot. Would it be beneficial to add an attic fan to both gable vents?
NO - Adding a Fan in the roof or Gables with a ridge vent short circuits the both of them as the fan in the roof will draw the hot air from outside from the ridge vent instead of from the sofits...bad advice
@@AD-hs4cw I think the "hot" air from outside is usually about 30 degrees cooler than the attic and that would be fine I would think.
yall putting ac units in the attic??
Only option sometimes.
If that's the best install this company can do, I'm calling someone else.
Bad job should have closed the left side vent to the fan.
What a lousy job, side of fan bot sealed and there is another open vent on the side, this is just common sense why you didn’t do it correctly?
Everyone’s an expert
@@bigbossadidoss8678 he makes sense though. now that fan is going to suck some air from outside and exhaust it right away. that window should be sealed so the fan would be sucking the air from inside. The OTHER outside vent should be from far away from the fan.
If you already know how to do it why would you go to a HOW TO video on youtube?
Great video, can you have 2 fans on opposite end of the attic? Or is one fan enough to cool a 1800 ft home. Thanks
Hi Raymontd thank you for your kind words a 1600CFM fan can handle up to 2200sqft of attic space and should be enough, just make sure you have enough air intake so you don't create negative pressure and suck air from your living space
Could put a smaller one on the other end of the house blowing in and a bigger one blowing out on the other side.
If you do one at both ends you might inadvertently pull from the inside of the home unless it is completely air sealed in which case it would pull 100% from the soffit. Guess how many attics are completely air sealed?
@@LiadMessinger less than 1 percent
@@LiadMessinger with the attic fan, should the air be pulled out of the attic or in to the attic? Can you please explain?
Please let me know
Everything that you’re saying it’s not true to keep the AC unit running smooth it Hass to be the house really fully insulated then you won’t have the AC unit running almost 24 seven sorry to tell you all of this but you’re wrong
My gas furnace is also in the attic. Is it a still good idea to get a gable fan? I read the fan can blow out the pilot and gas can fill the house. on the flip side I read there is an interlocking device that will automatically turn off fan when the furnace is on. I could not find this though. thoughts?
Only use it in the summer. Turn it off during winter.
If your pilot goes out for any reason, the valve will shut off.
You installed the fan wrong. You need to make a gable vent shroud to work correctly. Read the directions. They normally have a cut out on the box to build the shroud. Its a guy thing not following directions. Good luck.
lol true
a question what temperature the thermostat should be
I set it for between 100-105 and let is run for couple of weeks, if its to hot and you hear it going on after let say 9pm then I will raise it to 110, hope that helps :)
95
Sadly- if your ceiling and walls and vents leak air from the interior (which they all do from
Attic fans are so inefficient that you’ll never recover the pennies it costs to operate. And you’ll definitely never recover the hundreds of dollars it cost to install.
If so what do you suggest you do for an extremely hot attic which I have??
@@djtyson2 Think of the attic heat as if it were water. Would you want to continuously pump water out with an electric pump or would you want it to drain out on its own more efficiently and quicker. Ventilation is the answer. 130 - 140 degrees 4 feet above the ceiling insulation is what a well ventilated attic is when it’s 90-100 outside.
Nonsense. Science says your claim is not supported. a waste of money.
If you live in a hot climate and have a vented roof an attic fan is a waste of money. 98 degrees outside would only mean you are pulling 98 degree air back into your attic and also pulling conditioned air out of the house.......
Not true. I live in a hot climate too. 98 degrees outside air translates to 140 to 150 degree trapped, humid air. The proof is in using a laser thermometer and a thermometer in the attic. Use the laser on the bottom of the roof. It'll read at least 120 degrees. The worst part is the humid air turns to moisture on the bottom of the roof, cutting the life of the roof in half.
@@1228carlito I had 2 attic vent fans they did not save me any electricity and the A/C didn't run any less........If you have had a personal experience that had a positive result ,then I am glad for you.......My personal experience did not result in any saving of electricity and yes the fans were installed correctly..........
@@MultiMacnasty it depends on what kind of weather you have, the size of your attic and how much insulation you have in it, along with how much air sealing was done. I would also google to see what the minimum thickness/ R rating is for your area. For example, my area says a minimum of R 30 to R 60, which translates to 18 to 20 inches of insulation. I did want to ask about the fan set up. Are the fans rated high enough to properly vent your attic? Are the intake vents/soffits clear of insulation? Just adding a random sized fan(s) wouldn't fix the issue. Also know the temperature isn't going to be the same as it is inside the house. The best you can shoot for is equal to the outside temperature.
@@MultiMacnasty Check out Matt Rislingers channel on UA-cam and look at Home Depots insulation guides and Information to start. Oh and I have to ask about the fans. Did you set 1 up as intake and 1 as exhaust? People sometimes forget air needs an in and out to work properly
@@1228carlito Yes I had high CFM attic fans and when they didn't work very well i sealed up all the openings in the sheetrock I could find and did add significant insulation to my attic. My home was built in the mid 60's and their is just to much air flow between my interior sheet rock and the attic. The attic vent fans were pulling conditioned air out of the house that is why they didn't help. I cannot afford to re sheet rock the interior of my house to seal it better and yes I watch many build show videos. I live in south central Texas and Matt Risinger recommends sealed attics. The insulation I have done and my attempt to seal as much of the interior of the house from the attic has helped my electric bill. The fans never helped even after I insulated............Yes I set one fan as an intake from the shaded side of the house and the exhaust was on the west facing side.The fans are over 3x3 peak vents.........
That fan you installed has 1/3 of it not even over the vent. Poor workmanship.
too bad those Chinese made junk fans go bad after few months.
Who tf thought it would be a good idea to put the ac in the attic? That's the dumbest shit ever
Attic fans do not exhaust hot air from attic , it draws cool air from the house by negative pressure. It's a joke
Not if you have VENTED SOFFIT or a GABLE VENT. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
you probably dont even have a house.. the point is to drop the temp in the attic.. for some reason temps over 90 degrees in the attic makes the ac not cool as good..
@@chriscraft77022 I have a house and 40 acres, and I have better things to do than post false information
@@jcarlson517 dude.. i was replying to the comment you argued with as well.. im on your side.. the comment was to c list.. how the heck did you end up with 40 acres.. ???
You have to provide a source of air flow other than drawing air out of the house to avoid creating negative pressure in your attic. So you're not entirely wrong.
In my case, an open dormer window (2' x 2') provides a source of cooler air for the fans to draw into the attic, pushing the hot air out. I have several fans, adding up to about 500cfm of evacuation. On a windless day (this morning) you can feel a lot of air flow coming in the open window.
First things first AC doesn’t “cool air” AC removes heat from the air💁🏽♂️
6.4L HemiPower that’s what u felt u needed to add to content? Jeez your a douche
actually it doesn't do that either...AC removes humidity from the air with brings down the temp
I submit removing humidity to be correct because in arid climates you add humidity to cool the air with a “swamp cooler”.
@@williammain3247 Swamp coolers are banned now in Las Vegas. If you have an old one fine, but you can't put a new one in. Waste of water.
Everything about this video is wrong.
So far, so good! I installed this fan yesterday. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkx7yWIKcrbA9KMHkGSfcgxW2lsjHT6B8Sh I've been watching a continuous radon monitor in my house for about a week, and the levels have been running between 4.5 and 7.9 pCi/L. Shortly after I installed this fan, the radon level started dropping, and in less than 24 hours since I installed it, the level is now 1.9. My basement is approximately 2,000 square feet. Total home square footage above basement is approximately 4,000 square feet. The noise level so far is very quiet. Mine is installed indoors, so I had to purchase a cord and connector. If I have any problems later, I'll update my review. But for now, I'm very pleased with it.Update after 48 hours: Using a constant monitor, my radon is now fluctuating between 0.38 and 0.45 pCi/L. I've moved the monitor to my basement and am getting a constant 0.43 reading. After 24 hours, and when I know the weather will be safe, I'll place the monitor outside for about 12 hours. I'm thinking that the 0.38 to 0.45 may be the outside "ambient" radon level. I'm using this monitor (purchased from Amazon): Corentium Home Radon Detector by Airthings 223