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Solar Attic Vent Fan Questions Answered!
Q: What is a solar powered attic vent and what does it do?
A: A solar powered attic vent is an attic ventilation fan which runs solely off solar power. These ventilators fall into the category of active (powered) attic ventilation, where outside air is forced through the attic and out the vent to effectively cool the attic space. This method of attic ventilation is many times more effective than passive (natural) ventilation since the air inside the attic is exchanged more times per an hour with a powered vent than with a passive vent.
Q: Why would I want to cool off my attic?
A: During the summer, as the sun radiates heat onto your roof, your roof's shingles or tile becomes very hot. This heat is transferred through the roof and in turn heats up the air inside your attic. If the hot air stays inside your attic, the heat from this air will eventually
enter your home.
While attic insulation slows this process, it does not eliminate the heat transfer process entirely. If your attic is not very well insulated, it will do very little to stop the heat from getting through. Additionally, a hot attic stays hot long after the sun goes down, so the process of heat transfer into your home never really ends.
By removing the hot air from your attic, the process of heat transfer into your home is minimized. The less attic heat that is transfer into your home, the less your air conditioner will need to work. If your air conditioner unit doesn't need to run as much to keep your home cool, you save energy and money.
Q: What are the cost benefits of installing a solar attic fan?
A: How much money you will save is greatly dependent on the price of electricity in your area, the amount of attic space in your home, the efficiency of your attic insulation, and the amount of ventilation your solar attic vent is able to provide (see our Estimated Savings calculator for more details). In our experience, a typical installation will usually pay for itself in savings within 1-2 summers of use.
Q: How are ridge vents, turbine vents, or gable vents different from a solar attic vent?
A: Ridge vents, gables vents, and dormer vents work by passive (natural) draft air convection. This means that as hot air rises in your attic, it should flow out from these vents creating a natural draft through the attic. However, as you have probably noticed if you currently have any of these vents installed on your home, they are not very effective at reducing the temperature of your attic.
Turbine vents are designed to pull hot air out of your attic when the wind blows. These vents are equally ineffective at removing attic heat due to frequent mechanical problems, low air moving capability, and a dependence on the wind to supply the power needed to induce a draft through the attic.
Attic Breeze solar attic vents operate on the principle of active (forced) draft air convection. Our vents create an air draft through your attic many times more powerful than that of natural draft air convection techniques. By inducing a greater air daft through the attic, our solar attic vents can effectively cool your entire attic and keep it cool throughout the day.
Q: Can I install a solar attic fan if I already have ridge vents installed on my home?
A: Yes, no problem. Ridge vents do not interfere with the operation of our solar attic fans. The ridge vents will work in reverse, acting as air inlet vents when your solar attic vent is in operation. Keep this in mind when deciding on the placement of your solar attic vent unit. When installing our products in conjunction with ridge vents, the solar attic vent unit will need to be placed lower than normal from the ridge line of the roof to appropriately balance the air flow through the attic.
Q: Can I install an Attic Breeze solar attic vent if I already have turbine vents installed on my home?
A: Yes, our products can be used to either replace turbine vents or work in conjunction with existing turbine vents. If replacing a turbine vent with one of our products, you will need to make the current turbine vent roof hole slightly larger to accommodate our vent. It is also good practice to restrict the air flow from any turbine or dormer vent within 10 feet of our solar attic fans to better balance total air flow through the attic. This can easily be done by tacking flashing, plywood, or even heavy cardboard to the bottom side of the passive vent. This does not need to be a permanent seal, it only needs to be a restriction to air flow.
Q: Are these solar attic fans very loud when operating?
A: No, not at all. You can barely hear them running when you're standing right next to one. The fan blades used in our solar attic vents are specially designed for whisper quiet operation.
Q: Are there situations when installing a solar attic vent would not be a benefit?
A: Yes, there are some applications where a solar attic vent (or any type of powered attic vent) would not be appropriate. Attic Breeze does not recommend using our products on homes or buildings that have drop ceilings, open attic chases, or any other building feature that allows air from the living space to freely enter the attic space.
Due to our unique design, our attic vents create a powerful air draft through your attic. We strongly recommend capping or sealing any open vents, chases, or ceiling seams before installing our products to minimize the potential for conditioned air seepage into the attic space.
Q: Is there any chance of attic de-pressurization while using your solar attic vents?
A: If properly installed, the answer is no. Any powered attic fan (including ours) needs the required amount of air intake vents to operate properly. If the necessary amount of air intake vents are available, then air flow through the attic will follow the path of least resistance and de-pressurization of the attic will not be possible.
Q: Is any wiring required to install your solar attic vents?
A: No, our solar attic vents ship completely assembled and ready for use. All you need to do is install the unit.
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Pre-Packaged Systems
AtticBreeze Q & A
Q: What is the purpose of the thermal switch?
A: Attic Breeze solar attic vents include a thermal switch as part of our standard package. When your attic temperature is less than about 80°-90°F, the thermal sensor will shut down the attic fan. We do this for a few reasons:
During the fall and spring when attic temperatures are less than 90°F, there is very little driving force for heat transfer across the insulation in your attic (~20°F temperature difference between the attic and living area vs. ~70°F difference during the summer when the attic is hot).
By shutting down the attic fan when it's not needed, we can greatly extend the run life of the fan motor, saving you money long term.
Additionally, in many areas of the country where attic moisture build up during winter is not an issue, shutting down the attic fan will help reduce winter heating bills (heat can flow in either direction through your attic insulation; the greater the temperature difference between the attic and living area, the greater the amount of heat transfer regardless of how much insulation is present).
Q: Can I get an Attic Breeze solar attic fan without a thermal switch so that I can allow it to run during the winter?
A: Yes, this is an option you can choose during purchasing.
Q: Do your solar attic vents come with a battery back-up?
A: No, a battery isn't necessary. Our solar attic vents run when the sun is out to keep your attic cool. If the sun isn't out due to rain or cloud cover, then your attic isn't getting hot and doesn't need to be cooled. If our solar attic vents are properly installed, your attic will not be hot when the sun goes down and will not need night time cooling.
Q: Does Attic Breeze have installers?
A: No, we are the manufacturer. Attic Breeze has dealers in many areas of the country who perform installations, however, these dealers are not directly affiliated with Attic Breeze. To better serve our customers, Attic Breeze makes great efforts to identify dealers and independent contractors across the nation with the experience, skills, and customer service needed to meet and exceed our customer's expectations.
Q: Will your product help if I have already installed a radiant barrier in my attic?
A: Yes, there may be benefits to installing a solar attic fan in conjunction with a radiant barrier. A radiant barrier is really nothing more than a very effective form of attic insulation. While a radiant barrier does prevent heat from entering your home through the attic, it does so at the expense of allowing your roof to become excessively hotter than it would otherwise without the radiant barrier present.
Basically, with a radiant barrier installed, as the sun heats your roof and shingles, the heat cannot pass the barrier so it has no where to go. Thus, your attic or shingles can become much hotter than they would without the radiant barrier, which can cause shingles to deteriorate and may greatly impact the life expectancy of your roof.
If the radiant barrier is applied to attic floor like typical insulation, then you can benefit from the installation of a solar attic fan by allowing the fan to remove the excessive heat build up and extend the life expectancy of your shingles. However, if the radiant barrier is applied your attic ceiling (roof), a solar attic fan can only help remove the excess heat from the attic that passes through the radiant barrier. Since most radiant barriers allow 25-30% of radiant heat to pass through to the attic, installation of a solar attic fan can still be an effective method for further reducing energy usage due to cooling.
Q: Will your solar attic vents really stand up to bad weather conditions?
A: We believe our solar attic vents are better built than any other solar attic vent currently available. Attic Breeze solar attic vents are built entirely from high quality, corrosion resistant metal alloy parts and are designed to withstand tough weather conditions. While many of our competitors build their vent units from plastic to save money, we at Attic Breeze build our solar attic vents to last.
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