Attic Ventilation Fans Pros And Cons
Attic ventilation fans have pros and cons. While they generally help exhaust superheated air from your attic there is a risk they pull air-conditioned air from your home.
Keeping your home comfortable is expensive both in summer’s heat and winter’s cold.
It’s possible to lower the cost of keeping your home comfortable with attic ventilation and insulation.
In this post we will examine the pros and cons of attic ventilation and solar attic fans.
Attic Ventilation Pros
Phoenix Valley temperatures can easily go higher than 110°F. That means your roof and attic’s temperature is much, much higher. With outside temperatures reaching 110°F or higher the attic can reach 150°F or more! If you’ve got air-conditioning ducts running through this superheated air is making them less efficient.
- Keeps AC ducts cooler
- Helps extend the life of roofing materials
- Removes moisture from your attic
- Helps reduce energy use and utility bills
Attic Ventilation Cons
The cons to attic ventilation revolve more around improperly installed solutions or excessive insulation. This is most common in DIY installations of attic fans, ridge vents, and other attic ventilation solutions.
- Blocked air flow from insulation covering ventilation points. Common mistakes occur around soffit vents and insulation baffles
- Poorly sealed attics lead to fans pulling conditioned air from inside the home into the attic. While it’s great to keep the attic a more moderate temperature pulling in cooled air during the summer makes your AC unit work harder and is counterproductive
Solar Attic Fans Pros And Cons
Solar attic fans are a popular attic ventilation solution in Arizona. This is due to both the higher than normal summer temperatures and abundance of sunlight. A solar attic fan is just like the electric model but uses the energy of the sun to function. This means that it’s exhausting the hot air from your attic without putting additional strain on your electric bill.
Solar Attic Fan Pros
Solar attic fans are popular in Arizona for a number of reasons. Chief among them is that they run on the same energy that’s heating your attic. They remove excessive heat to keep the attic cooler and help manage your home’s level of comfort.
- Runs on the sun’s energy
- Cools your attic
- Costs less than full vent systems
- Consumes less energy than electric models
Solar Attic Fan Cons
While a solar attic fan generally costs a little more than a basic electric model, they do use less power. In some regions of the country that get a lot of rain and snow they aren’t as reliable. However in Arizona there’s 299 days of sun on average in the Phoenix Valley. This means that there’s plenty of solar energy to use to power your attic fan.
- More expensive to purchase
- Not as powerful as electric models
- Must have sunlight to work
Phoenix Attic Ventilation Services
If you have a home that’s struggling to keep up with summer’s heat, we can help! Don’t run your AC unit your bill is so high you consider living in caves. Allow our team to help you install the right attic ventilation solutions and insulation to help you save money!
Call 602-499-2922 or Contact Us