Do Attic Fans Push Air In Or Out

Install electric ventilators and attic fans which remove hot air from an attic.

Do attic fans push air in or out.

These fans are commonly mounted in an upstairs stairwell or hallway ceiling where there s at least 3 ft. Of clearance above the fan. On the theme of creating positive pressure in the attic and displacing hot attic air with cooler exterior air ventilation fans designed for foundation ventilation could possibly used in place of 22 5 inch eave vents to push in exterior air and thereby push out attic air through high gable vents and eyebrow vents. Ventilation fans or powered attic ventilators are designed to cool the attic pushing out the hot attic air and rushing in a flow of cool outside air.

If you set one to push air in you ll be pushing all kinds of dust dirt and insects into the attic space. A powerful fan draws cooler early morning and evening air through open doors and windows and forces it up through the attic and out the roof vents. This sends hot air up and out cooling your house and your attic. Set them both to draw air out.

The air source will come from the eaves of the roof. I have advised him that generally speaking attic fans are a bad idea which he has come to terms with. Because fans don t actually make the air cooler but simply redistribute the air around a room open a window or door opposite the fan when you have the fan facing in or out of the window which allows the air to circulate through the room and even if the air outside is warm the fan may create a cooling effect through a breeze being formed. My father is interested in removing heat from his attic to try to keep the upstairs of his house somewhat cooler.

Alternatively install passive vents such as gable soffit and ridge vents which are openings in the roof that allow hot air to escape. 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 attic. However with that understanding that creating negative pressure in the attic can cause all kinds of problems sucking out air from the conditioned space possible back drafting. Think light fixtures outlets and switches fans and even the general construction around things like your ac grills.

This means that every leak in your house allows cool air conditioned air to be sucked into the attic. They have thermostats that turn the fan on at a recommended preset temperature of 100 110 degrees. This prevents hot air from seeping into your home and driving up the temperature in the living space which reduces the load on your air conditioner. They are sized by roof area or single floor.

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.