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I'm more likely to go with opening a hole on the roof and installing the fan on the roof. Two gable vents will be pulling air into the attic.
I think it's a good idea since I don't have soffit vents but the roof looks like it has ridge vents which will also pull in air which is not good.
Venting doesn’t work like that. A ridge vent works by convection currents which draw air in from low vents such as soffit or eaves vents and permit hot air to escape through the higher ridge vent. The rising hot air creates the relative pressure differential to draw the cooler air in through the lower vents.
A ridge vent will not draw cooler air inside the attic, nor will it allow the hot air out without the lower vents.
A gamble vent works by allowing airflow across the area, but can also permit inflow when combines with a roof exhaust although less effectively than a soffit vent system would enable.
Unless you have a inflow vent with sufficient exchange capacity, a roof or ridge vent will not dissipate the heat build up because of a vacuum lock.
I am planning to get my attic insulated and some quotes include an attic fan on the vent (side of house) or on the roof. I have two gable vents (north and south) in the attic.
I did some research and saw the pros and cons. I live in NY, home is built in 1947 and 2nd floor gets quite hot. It has fiberglass batt insulation but it's around R9. Planning to go R38 with blown in cellulose.
I already signed the contract with installing the attic fan on the roof but not sure if I should go with it or not since my attic could have leakage from the 2nd floor.
Any feedback?
Thanks
Go R60. Isn't going to add that much more, I went R60 from like R6 and my house went from 100 month average gas, 100 month average electricity, to 60-80 average combined. They quoted me like 1k for 35 and like 1300 for R60. so, didnt see a reason not too overdo it. Better to go a little overboard the first time than wish you had more and pay people to come back.
You will recoup the savings in first few years, mine paid itself off easily in first 1.5 years if I had to guess. I also had 2 hours of air sealing done, they run around, foam up leaky spots.
I decided to remove the attic fan from the contract after reading a lot of stuff online.
@FreedomPenguin, as for increasing the R, a lot of sources say it's not worth the savings. Some say they saved $5 a year when increasing their insulation from R38 to R49. It'll take a while to break even.
If you have gable vents AND ridge vent(s)- you're really not "ventilating" the attic. And adding a power roof ventilator will not improve ventilation- but it will add to your power bill.
Yes, the air flow is "short circuiting" between the gable vents and the ridge vents. The upper 10% of the attic is being ventilated, but not the bulk of it.
Quote:
If you want to "ventilate" your attic correctly- see about having soffit vents installed along with baffles BEFORE the blow-in happens. Once you have those in-place and can verify you have sufficient ridge venting, close off the gable end vents. Now you have a sufficient "passive ventilation 'system'".
Now there's an ignorant statement. And you base this on what?
What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander in this scenario. Too much insulation can be bad depending on geographic location. And it certainly isn't serving anyone well when most roof framing isn't done in such a way to benefit from that much insulation- especially near the soffits.
Our house in California had huge vented gable ends, but still got a lot of heat build up. We installed a couple of electric fans on in one out on opposite gables and it worked beautifully. The attic not longer got so hot that humans would die in a short time, and our AC costs (electric bill) plummeted noticeably.
What kind of insulation are you getting? If foam you need to block up all the vents and not put in a fan. If you are just insulating the ceiling with fiberglass or cellulose, then a fan may help a great deal, but only in the summer. Our fans were on thermostats and only came when it started getting really hot. They were inexpensive and very easy to instal. Took less than an hour for both.
I have 3 attic roof vent fans that do not work and did not work when I bought my house (I knew this). In a prior house, I could access the fan from the attic, so I was able to change out the motor part myself. These fans require getting up on the roof, which I am not willing to do. My past experience is that these fans burn out every few years and there is debate over whether the cost of running them is worth the benefit. Has anyone had experience with the solar-powered versions? Is a roofing contractor the proper tradesperson to work on these? I won't be doing anything until spring, but mulling over what to do....
I have 3 attic roof vent fans that do not work and did not work when I bought my house (I knew this). In a prior house, I could access the fan from the attic, so I was able to change out the motor part myself. These fans require getting up on the roof, which I am not willing to do. My past experience is that these fans burn out every few years and there is debate over whether the cost of running them is worth the benefit. Has anyone had experience with the solar-powered versions? Is a roofing contractor the proper tradesperson to work on these? I won't be doing anything until spring, but mulling over what to do....
You can get quotes from insulation companies and roofers. I think insulators are better.
Solar power is nice but has less power than plugged in fans.
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