How Your Hous Attic Fan Works
Many people confuse a whole house fan with an attic fan but the two accomplish different goals.
How your hous attic fan works. An attic fan is installed on the slanted side of your roof or on one of the gable sides of your attic. It helps to cool your home temperatures and the attic by approximately 30 degrees. How an attic fan works. 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.
The downside of attic ventilation fans. The warm air escapes through the attic and to the attic vents allowing the circulation of chilly air from the windows. For homes or buildings with a whole house fan the hot air is pulled into the attic. Whole house fans work on the principle of removing the hot and humid air out of the house.
However the utility of attic ventilation fans is actually quite a controversial topic. The whole house fan pulls air in from open windows and exhausts it through the attic and roof. Because whole house fans were cheaper than air conditioners and worked well they began being used in the 1950s primarily in the south. 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.
The whole house fan is installed inside the attic between the living space and ceiling. 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. Good insulation reduces fan effectiveness. It provides good attic ventilation in addition to whole house cooling.