Do Attic Solar Fans Work

Solar or pv fans run on sun power and pull superheated air out of your attic to be replaced by cooler outside air.

Do attic solar fans work.

Cold air is at the bottom and warm air is at the top. Solar attic fans can be installed in just 15 minutes. Some can have manual switches while others use a thermostat to turn them on and off automatically. Because most models do not use a battery as a backup power source any drifting clouds that come along will interrupt the operation of this unit.

How an attic fan works attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside. For the attic fans to work at peak efficiency they need to be on a south facing roof slope if you live in the northern hemisphere. A solar attic fan harnesses the power of the sun to run its motor without using electricity. Yes the solar powered attic fans spin at different speeds.

Attic fan savings claims. Solar attic fans require direct sunlight to operate. Attic ventilation fans also tend to be quite energy efficient in terms of their own operation. Fresh air is pulled in from your soffits and or roof vent creating a draft through your attic.

This air is then exhausted through the fan to the outside. If the angle of the sun is lower in the sky morning and late afternoon or the sun s rays are trying to cut through thin clouds or haze the fan spins slower moving less air. Gable fans fit into the gable vent and can be set to operate only within a preset temperature range. Solar attic fans work by pulling in the cold air from the soffits and pushing out the hot air that has accumulated at the top of the attic.

This reduces the amount of work your hvac system has to do to cool your upstairs living area. The attic fan just helps the air move more which adds cooler air circulation. Many are solar powered and require no other wiring so they don t cause any additional charges on your electricity bill at all. In addition to soffit gable and or ridge vents you may want to add a power vent fan to your attic to increase air circulation.

Here s how solar attic fans work. Solar powered attic vent fans usually don t move as many cubic feet of air per minute cfm as hardwired fans. The main work of an attic fan is to regulate the heat level of the attic by removing hot air out of the attic and pushing it outside providing needed ventilation. Attic fans come with different models.

If a cloud blocks the sunlight the fans slow or stop. The single solar powered attic fan i have has not lowered the temperature in my attic at all. But they re much easier to install since no wiring is needed.