Are Solar Powered Attic Fans Good

Solar power is safer to use with an attic fan.

Are solar powered attic fans good.

Now the solar powered exhaust fans are great because all you have to do is cut a hole put them in place and you don t even have to worry about calling the electrician to power any electric motor. Houses during winter usually produce warm air. Solar attic fans work by pulling in the cold air from the soffits and pushing out the hot air that has accumulated at the top of the attic. Meanwhile solar attic fans are free to run lower your electric bills and have few costs beyond purchase and installation.

A homeowner can install a solar attic fan in about an hour. But the key thing is making sure you size it properly. In summer the heat energy from the sun is absorbed and conducted to the attic. Yes during the summer you should run the attic cooling fan.

Attic fans either solar or electric are not as effective at cooling overheated attics as manufacturers claim. This is basically how air naturally moves. The infrared rays from the sun are powerful. However in order to be capable of reducing and regulating temperature values to acceptable ranges that will cool your attic and reduce air conditioning costs you must make a good estimation of the attic venting load required.

Solar attic fans are also useful during winters according to solar powered attic fan reviews. Ventilation fans or powered attic ventilators are designed to cool the attic pushing out the hot attic air and rushing in a flow of cool outside air. Here are some more benefits of getting a solar attic fan. But attic fans can be very ineffective or even counterproductive.

A solar powered attic exhaust fan is designed to extract air from the attic to remove all of that contained heat reducing temperature values to a cool range between 40 50 f. Cold air is at the bottom and warm air is at the top. They also create zones of negative pressure that could pull the ac cooled air into the attic. The solar attic fans all moved less than 1 000 cubic feet of air per minute cfm and they did nothing to lower the temperature inside my own attic.

With more concentration of heat in the attic it can be conducted to the living space creating an uncomfortable environment. The attic fan just helps the air move more which adds cooler air circulation. The safety and effectiveness of an attic fan is a subject that is hotly debated but line powered products usually cost more to operate than they can produce in savings during the summer.