Attic fans are intended to cool hot attics by drawing in cooler outside air from attic vents soffit and gable and pushing hot air to the outside.
How your hous attic fan works.
Whole house fans should provide houses with 3 to 6 air changes per hour varies with climate floor plan etc check with a professional to determine what is appropriate for your.
It helps to cool your home temperatures and the attic by approximately 30 degrees.
The warm air escapes through the attic and to the attic vents allowing the circulation of chilly air from the windows.
However the utility of attic ventilation fans is actually quite a controversial topic.
The downside of attic ventilation fans.
Attic ventilation fans whether hard wired or powered by their own solar panels seem like a low cost and effective way to help keep your house cool.
Many people confuse a whole house fan with an attic fan but the two accomplish different goals.
Good insulation reduces fan effectiveness.
Whole house fans work on the principle of removing the hot and humid air out of the house.
How an attic fan works.
The whole house fan pulls air in from open windows and exhausts it through the attic and roof.
It provides good attic ventilation in addition to whole house cooling.
Attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside.
These fans are designed to remove excess heat from your attic which in theory is supposed to lessen the load on the air conditioning in your home.
However if your attic has blocked soffit vents and is not well sealed from the rest of the house attic fans will suck cool conditioned air up out of the house and into the.
Because whole house fans were cheaper than air conditioners and worked well they began being used in the 1950s primarily in the south.