I priced getting open foam insulation at the roof line, but that solution is price prohibitive to me at the moment. Buy the way my attic area is about 750-800 sf. Also note that when the AC is on, stack effect causes a house to pull air from the attic. A. Some day I'll make a compromise. I guess it would have to be pretty big, too. It works by drawing hot, humid air out of your attic and pushing it outside. When we have the fan on should we open the door between the bedroom and the crawl space where the fan is located? Also, living in West Texas (think El Paso or Lubbock) 'swamp coolers' work great for all but about 2 days a year. But it will also add to your electric bill. So instead creating a negative pressure with attic ventilators I am creating positive pressure. "One study showed that shingle life is reduced by less than a year on homes in Miami with no attic ventilation.". Why should whole-house fans not be installed in homes with a furnace in the attic? If there are any leaks would be the lighting installations. We are considering installing a gable solar fan following ideas researched in web sites from Australia and the US. Are Attic Fans Necessary or Even a Good Idea? | Hunker This fan would be installed on one end of the house, while the opposite end already has an open, screened vent -- thus air would be drawn in from one end and expelled out the other. If your insulation is thin, invest in insulation, not a powered attic ventilator. The cost of a conditioned attic is high- it may not be worth it. My contractor wants to use blown-in insulation. You state: "Several studies show that even in a house with a tight ceiling, a powered attic ventilator uses more electricity than it saves." One thing that comes to mind is fire damping since I will be creating a chimney. When the control predicts relatively mild weather, the ventilating blower will run at a lower speed than when hotter weather is predicted. In the case of my house, it is impossible to lay down another layer of insulation. Response to Carlos Alvarado Response to Lee Dodge Clean and Organize How to Cool a Hot Attic Keep your attic from boiling over with these venting and insulating tips. But I have another question. To answer your questions: (a) No, I have never installed a Tamarack fan, and (b) I have no affiliation or financial relationship with the manufacturer (and neither does GBA). It is one story with an attic space. Click here to see a website with many inexpensive models of whole-house exhaust fans for flat roofs. Martin, I think the furnace is original to the house, which was built in 2006. A whole-house fan is usually installed on the attic floor near the center of your house. I also had a thought about adding an intake valve in the attic sheet rock access panel (have no idea if that's good idea or not) so the powered attic fans can draw from the house (like a mini whole house fan). What Is an Attic Fan and What Does an Attic Fan Do? - Aire Serv How to Cool a Hot Attic | HGTV This approach usually increases rather than decreases your energy bills. Newer construction calls for some attics to be completely sealed, no vents. . Your'e definitely right, they survived without insulation (the old open-flame floor heater probably got quite a workout back in the day!). Clearly, you need to address your immediate problem -- sweating ducts. Are they worth it?". Solar Attic Fans are easily managed and fixed and a great product for proper attic ventilation. In a house with no ac running and the windows open there has to be some level of cooling benefit from lowering the attic temp with an attic ventilation fan -even with a less than perfectly air sealed attic floor. If you insulate your sloped roofline, you need to install the whole-house fan in the roof assembly, not the attic floor. Ergo, buy a high efficiency (40 watts, 15 cents a day) gable mounted PAV to reduce the radiant broiler effect on the ceiling of my garage. Because heat rises to the attic. All this being said, the house is quite efficient and we rarely use the a/c, I am just trying to increase the performance of the house at the margin. Does your attic have insufficient ventilation openings that will cause an attic fan to draw through your house? Dan, Good stuff! These products are designed to run during the evening and early morning (the coolest parts of the day). Thanks for the response, i am still interested in cooling the attic and I might try it after monitoring attic temperatures before and after to see if it makes much of a difference. Choosing the Tamarack HV1600, the larger of the two Tamarack whole house fans that you recommend, the product literature says that the rough opening in the ceiling should be 14 1/2 x 22 1/2". Make sure that there are sheet-metal screws in each duct seam. PS. Q. Here is a corollary: The money you spend on installing and operating powered attic ventilation fans will never be recovered in energy savings. The problem is that in most cases, there is no one available to accurately make that determination. I picture the Tamarack blowing hot air up into the attic, which joins the cross-ventilation and carries it out of our attic. Your estimate of 15 to 18 years is much closer to the average here (as it appears to be in Texas). Unless someone installed multiple fans or a fan which can really push a great volume of air, wouldn't the soffits allow for completely unrestricted airflow? But after reading your article, I don't know that we need an attic fan because we should have a whole house fan. Any thoughts. Is your fan-coil unit in a hot attic? Response to Martin Holladay and Dana Dorsett Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Solar-powered attic fans hold a strange fascination for many homeowners, especially homeowners who are worried about their attic temperature. I've looked at other houses in the area. Consider a different roof heat-gain management system, if you can afford a long-tem investment. We had a small house about 1000sf. http://new.advancedenergyproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NightBreezeDiagramA.jpg. @ Jrowen42 Fix the insulation layer. I guess it would have to be pretty big, too. Yes, an electrician could perform the work you describe. Additionally, drawing 100 degree air into a space does not cool it. You have a house with a gable roof. A. When I was about 16 my father installed an Attic power vent fan. There are standard solutions to the problem you describe (ductwork in unconditioned attics), and the solutions don't involve motorized registers. I have never used one, but it seems like a good system. who cares how hot the attic is? Living the the San Fernando Valley in the summer we would often run the AC for a few hours during the later part of the afternoon and then switch to the whole house fan once the temp outside fell below the AC set point. Even though a manufactured cover costs more, it is far easier to install. On my home this meant cutting inlet vents in the wall or garage door. Typically, a whole-house fan shouldn't be run during the day because doing so would heat . Pros and cons of whole-house fan - oregonlive.com Verifying that the attic insulation is still there would be an important first step. Attics Termite Infestation Why attic fans don't work well and what to do instead! If the response is to "just run it longer" than what is the purpose of the rule of thumb, and where does the energy cost savings come from when running 3x longer than a traditional 3000 CFM fan? Your account raises several questions. It might not sound like much, but the simple act of circulating attic air can greatly affect home temperature and energy consumption. Lesley, The insulation on the duct is in very bad shape. Grew up with one in the 60s in NY. Repeat this on all the blades and test the fan for noise. I wonder what the energy consumption difference would be, between an R-5 cover, and the R-26 advocated as the low end by Erik North. Derek, I had a home in San Antonio, TX. Q. Carlos already spent the money on a brand new cool-roof shingle and bringing the attic up to code. Hot during the day, cool at night, and usually quite dry if not near the beach. Do those make sense these days? Sometimes that boundary can be unclear. 2. If you were supplying heat to your house with electric resistance heat at a cost of $0.14/kWh, that would cost you $36 over the winter. And then the main part of my roof/attic has NO ridge vent but does have gable vents on both ends. - Lee Sam. I live in FL, and I'm considering a fan to exhaust hot air from the attic. Attic HVAC Units: Pros and Cons and How to Maintain Them - Modernize One mistake in the remodel was installing the furnace and duct work in the attic and heat is transferred from the attic to the ducts and then to the house. So, if you can lower the attic temperature by 15 F for under $375 (with no recurring energy penalty per a powered attic ventilation fan), that would be the more advisable route. It's very easy to write that better insulation, radiant barriers, and light-colored roofs are components of a superior solution. How? Here is the link: Response to Richard James It's amazing that your urge to post spam is stronger than your willingness to read. And I accept your assertion that you have no financial interest in promoting powered attic ventilators. A long-term improvement to your house might involve converting your vented unconditioned attic into an unvented conditioned attic. You can't cover them up. You don't mention whether your house has an atmospherically vented gas water heater. Does not have any soffit vents. The ceiling is sloped -- it follows the roofline. Recently we have found that by opening the (east-facing) garage door in the afternoon and turning on the attic fan, the house seems to be cooled a bit, without turning on the AC. It is valuable to have the data from those who have studied them recently. Any advice on cooling a house in Kauai? Am I correct in noting that a properly 'conditioned attic' would have zero vents in the roof? The upstairs thermostat is set to 80, so itll start ventilating when the outdoor temperature drops to 75. Most experts don't see any advantages to turbine vents (or whirligig vents). Moreover, if you use a powerful fan for your proposed pressurization, the fan will quickly remove all of the cool air from the crawl space, and the fan will be pressurizing the attic with hot air drawn from unknown sources, but probably from outdoors. Penny, You have developed a work-around -- a way to reduce the problems associated with the design flaws of your house. Any help you can give me would be great, on both topics. Also note that solar fans are available in gable vent models that could be installed in push-pull pairs - so no depressurization. Lee Dodge suggests a "balanced" system where there is an incoming and exhaust fan. An unconditioned attic is certainly a bad place to put your heating and cooling system, but a powered attic ventilator will do little to extend its life. Regardless of what the insulation level is, there will be some level of energy transfer from the warmer attic to the cooler house. Are Powered Attic Ventilators Ever a Good Idea? What are the pros and cons of attic ventilation fans? This has caused my AC ducts to sweat causing water damage to the ceiling. I get the idea that people that suggest a hot attic with a well-insulated ceiling have never crawled around an attic in south Texas on a summer day trying to string a TV cable or electrical wiring. Check out the excellent articles on ice dams, perhaps starting with https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/articles/dept/musings/ice-dam-basics. As I noted in previous responses to questions on this issue, you can buy a whole-house fan that is designed to be installed in an insulated roof. I picked one inch of foam in my example to match the R-5 mentioned in your article. Response to Penny Dorneman I don't think I'd ever be running them at the same time. I agree with your conclusion that "there is really little effect that can be detected with venting on attic temperature.". Mooseo, I read a little about back-drafting and other things of the sort. Take your pick. Electric is about 40 cents/kWh in Kauai so I started looking at solar attic fans because the whole house fans seem to consume so much energy and ended up here (very few non-manufacturer sponsored opinions out there on this topic) There is almost always a decent breeze so maybe one of those non powered turbine type fans? ", Q. Warm, humid indoor air is leaking out of your house and into your attic through ceiling cracks. Still, an example calculation for an average home in New Jersey, and another in Vermont, would be enlightening. And, yes, unfortunately the AC equipment and ducts are in the attic. Researchers have confirmed that powered attic ventilators depressurize the home under the attic ceiling. Does the whole house fan allow for adequate air circulation even in the winter to prohibit mold growth? There is nothing wrong with whole-house fans. According to your anecdotes, the electricity use decreased in both of these buildings. A ridge vent is basically a hole in your roof. We moved to Kauai about a year ago. It worked ok, but slowly, so last year I installed a 3,200 cfm house fan in the same location. Your argument rests on three legs. How would all of that warm air ventilate out of the attic? This means it can only cool 1-2 rooms, not a whole house. On the one hand, attic fans may improve ventilation and lower temperatures. Electricity costs vary greatly over time and location. I should have made that clear. I recently moved into a three-year-old manufactured home with a switch labelled "whole house ventilation." 1. By 5:00, it's rarely above 70F outside, even if the house is hot. So they worked great. Attic Ventilation: Does My Home Need It? - Advice From Bob Vila Ceiling mounts, installed directly above louvers, draw air into the attic, where it is forced out through vents in the eaves . The amount of air being drawn out of the house is a function of the pressure difference and size of the air leaks in the attic floor. thanks And I suppose that even if we're really careful with it, we couldn't guarantee that the next owners would be just as careful if we sell the house. As you suggest, lay persons are jumping into PAV's without doing proper research and the on line vendors are not helping with this problem. I am considering, if such a product is available, installing motorized registers on each duct where it enters the room so they are normally closed, but open when the air conditioning system starts. "And what's what the 'tight ceiling' claim over and over again? The NightBreeze has been around for a while; I first wrote an article about the product 8 years ago, for an article that appeared in the September 2004 issue of Energy Design Update. Hannah, I thought I had made a large mistake, but I mostly fixed that problem by wrapping the duct with more insulation and by modifying the damping system creating new damper flaps insulated with foam sheet. The purpose of a whole-house fan is to rid your home of heat that builds up while the sun is out. In fact it is quite rare for an asphalt shingle roof to last 30 years in Vermont. I imagine this hole would need to patched. Outdoor shady spot under your grape arbor? If your roof is uninsulated, the long-term solution is to install insulation with an adequate R-value in your roof assembly. The exposed area of this box is therefore 26.6 square feet for the sides, and 11.1 square feet for the top. Response to Brian Chaszar How big is the house, and how many tons (what is the BTU/hr rating) of AC? And we are one of the only countries in the world, if not the only country in the world, that is an industrialized country that puts any requirements on people who just want food, so very bad . In some cases additional insulation on the attic floor is not practical. Install a ridge vent along the roof peak so that the air has somewhere to exit the attic space. Bob, Attic fan reduced my electricity bill If the existing ducts are in very bad shape and aren't worth saving, you could remove and discard all of the exiting attic ductwork are replace the ducts with new insulated flex duct. Response to Richard James Just use the whole-house fan when nighttime temperatures are cool and daytime temperatures are hot -- that's all you need. When installed on the ceiling of your attic, they circulate the air in your attic. Video of the Day. No other factor, including attic ventilation, plays as much of a role as do color and orientation. Of course, a fan cannot cool your garage unless the outdoor air temperature is lower than the indoor air temperature. A. The whole house fan worked great in rapidly reducing the interior temperature of the house so that we rarely require the a/c to kick on. Response to David Miller There can be a danger, but it depends @ jrowen42 Air quality, controlling the inlet source, is a huge concern. Attic Fan Installation - How to Install an Attic Fan - Popular Mechanics One way to try to figure it out is to turn on the switch on a quiet day and listen for a motor coming on. With the summer season upon us, now is a good time to review an uncomfortable topic. While I am planning on insulating the attic properly, is there sense in me having an attic fan as well? "Will the old covered up soffit vents continue to work?". The attic, apparently like most on the island, doesn't have any insulation. Regardless of ventilation design I would guess that X relative temperature would lead to Y pressure. Thanks Another possible explanation is that you are really battling heat sources inside your garage, including your water heater, your freezer, and your clothes dryer -- and that your powered attic ventilator is a placebo rather than an appliance that succeeds in altering the temperature of your garage. (They are cheap and not hard to DIY install properly.). However, the difference in efficiency probably isn't enough to justify the investment in a new fan. Just the numbers and how to build reasonably changes. Good. "Like a whole-house fan, the NightBreeze system will not provide effective ventilation cooling in all climates. Derek, Whole House fan with attic fans 1 by builders and are the highest attribute made in the USA! Most whole-house fans require a rectangular opening that is at least 32" x 32", and often larger; some whole-house fans are 48 in. If that's what you are thinking, it's nuts. Tamarack is a fine company with leading edge insulation technology but you do your readers a disservice by inserting your opinion that they "make the best whole-house fans available". Response to Chris Grabowy Newer construction calls for some attics to be completly sealed, no vents. Increase your ventilation area, or consider a different solution. Brian, It is a low slope ashpalt shingle roof with deteriorated batt attic insulation. It makes us glisten in the summer. Your article comes across as biased. Is that correct? Thanks for the article. Well, it's possible that it will lower the attic temperature a few degrees. I have very little insulation in my attic. The mind begins to reel as other solutions begin to present themselves. Lived there for years comfortably without AC and also lived in Philadelphia, SF, NYC and upstate NY without AC (i like being warm) but some folks who go to the house in Kauai wish there was AC from about 5-9 PM mostly in July and August. In those cases the options are to "sweat it out", cool the poorly insulated house with a large AC system, or try to limit the heat gain to reduce the temperature in the house. Another thing to remember is to cover the large attic exhaust vent in the off season. We do have very low electric bills, despite the attic fans running from noon to midnight on hot days (thermostat-controlled) and the Tamarack running all night as well. I created 2 additions and extensively remodeled our now 1,800 square foot single story rancher in 2010 and 2007. We do have blackout shades and close those during the day, which makes it dreary. Response to Martin Holladay Is it just inefficient, or is there some sort of danger to that kind of setup? If the attic fans didn't do the trick, then I'd move on to the next solution and be out only $100. I took another look. The interactions of the stack effect, wind, HVAC equipment with duct leaks, and attic fans are complicated and unpredictable. Response to Dan Puccio So, yes: during the summer, there is always a benefit to a cooler attic. It can enable you to put off running the AC a little longer into the warm seasons. Regardless of what the insulation level is, there will be some level of energy transfer from the warmer attic to the cooler house. But we also love our air conditioning and low humidity . Options include: 1. old vs new whole house fans Of course if you want to make lemonade out of that lemon, use the attic heat to preheat water and call your roof a solar collector. If you do that, your fans will operate better than with the current controls. If the attic fan keeps the house cool enough so that the owners leave the AC off, there is almost certainly an energy benefit. Response to J Freeman A whole-house fan strongly pressurizes an attic, interfering with the combustion process for any atmospherically vented combustion appliance (for example, a conventional furnace or water heater) in the attic. Let's break down each one below. Complaints about the noise level, inadequate airflow, cheap plastic components, malfunctioning remote controls, etc. If you don't want to install ducts, install a window-mounted air conditioner or a ductless minisplit. I think I will still need it at times to reduce garage temperatures regardless of insulation and passive ventilation improvements. That's good. If you do, indeed, have R-38 insulation on the garage ceiling, the temperature of your garage attic should be irrelevant. Is this thing of any use to us at all? In short, on the basis of currently available information, attic ventilation is only marginally beneficial to shingle durability. Wiring and plumbing penetrations of the framing were generally not caulked, but since there are two layers of insulation across the the attic, I hope that will be enough to restrict penetration of the ceiling envelope and that cooler air forced into the bottom of the attic will force warmer air to be pushed through the higher eyebrow and gable end vents rather than through the any penetrations in the framing, the path of least resistance.
Fiio M11 Plus Muziekspeler Zwartfiio M11 Plus Muziekspeler Zwart,
Articles D