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How to Maintain Your Attic Fan

A fan placed in the attic of your house is utilized to manage the temperature. The hot air is pushed out of the home by fans, enabling cooler outside air to be drawn in and lower the temperature inside.

They can yield great economic savings on your energy bills since you won’t need to deploy air conditioning if it isn’t particularly sweltering. Getting a malfunctioning fan fixed could be pricey, however, the long-term savings on energy bills will make up for the costs.

What is an Attic Vent Fan?

As suggested by its title, an attic fan is a ventilation system put in an attic area. The main purpose of this is to act as a way to circulate air in your house. The fan is usually mounted to the top of the house or gable vent, which takes the air from inside the attic and replaces it with air from the outside.

A supplement to the natural ventilation methods used in a home, an attic fan helps improve air circulation in the attic that can aid in increasing the efficiency of an air conditioning unit. At the peak of summer, the temperature inside the attic can surpass 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The effect on your HVAC system could be significant.

How does Attic Vent Fan Work?

Attic fans eliminate the oppressively hot air in the room and draw in fresh air from the outside. Having adequate ventilation in the attic can help keep the heat out of the rest of the home, so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the house cool.

You may discover that your residence has pre-existing attic ventilation with soffits situated in the edge of the structure. Cool air enters through those vents. The air gets hotter and rises until it can leave the area through the vents on the top of the roof. Attic fans can assist in pushing out the hot air quicker from the attic. Allowing passive venting to let hot air out will not cool your home as quickly as other methods.

In other words, an attic fan may not always be successful in lowering the temperature in your home. No matter how excellent it is, a ventilator for the attic can cause some difficulties depending on given scenarios. A powerful attic fan can pull in the chilliness from inside the house and expel it out via a ceiling that isn’t properly sealed.

A powerful attic fan can lead to the phenomenon of back drafting in water heaters or furnaces. The fan creates a pressure difference which causes the combustion gases to be sucked away from the burners and into the home. In addition, attic ventilation alone may not be sufficient to keep the house cool during the hottest days of summer.

3 Types of Attic Fans

If you intend to enhance the ventilation system in your attic, you have the possibility to install various types of attic fans. All varieties of roofing systems can be installed either on top of the roof or on the end of the gable. Discovering the one that is most appropriate for your circumstances can assist in decreasing the electric power usage of your air conditioning system by efficiently cooling off your attic.

Smart Attic Fans

These attic fans deliver the newest advances concerning attic air flow solutions. The fan systems have built-in temperature and moisture sensors that cause the motor to move faster or slower depending on conditions in the attic.

A cleverly designed attic ventilator can change itself in accordance with the conditions in the attic, so that temperatures stay at the optimal level throughout the year. Implementing these measures can improve the energy performance of your home, particularly in the warmer season.

Attic fans that are intelligent in design can stop the attic from becoming overly warm during periods of intense heat. Without taking any steps, the extreme heat can infiltrate your home, causing your air conditioning to work overtime. Smart attic ventilators usually feature a smartphone app. The app allows you to adjust the fan settings and assess the condition of your attic.

Solar Attic Fans

Would you like to have enough attic ventilation without having to pay high energy costs? A solar attic fan may be the answer. This kind of fan helps to keep your attic at a comfortable temperature without consuming any power from the electrical network. The outcome is that it does not increase your energy costs in terms of power usage.

A solar attic fan is powered by energy from the sun, as suggested by its name. This suggests that it uses solar energy to expel the hot air from inside the attic and take in cooler air from outside. Some models have an AC/DC inverter, which means it can power the fan using energy from the grid at night and from the sun during the day.

A solar-powered attic fan helps keep your home cool. In addition, it enables you to decrease your environmental impact in two ways. This type of fan enables you to decrease your electricity use by decreasing the power needed by your air conditioner. Furthermore, it relies on solar energy, which does not produce any emissions of climate-damaging gases.

Traditional Attic Fans

The most prevalent exhaust fan variety of American homes is the classical attic fan. It gives strong attic ventilation, expelling a significant amount of air through the openings.

Traditional attic fans typically have a thermostat control and can circulate up to 2,000 cubic feet of air each minute at a consistent speed. They’re usually the least expensive choice. Thus, these options will enable you to minimize the energy consumed by your AC unit while not greatly affecting your financial situation.

Benefits of Attic Vent Fans

Is an attic fan a good investment for you? It is unquestionably advantageous to set up a ventilator in your attic. Let us examine some of the advantages supplied by attic fans.

Increase Energy Efficiency of your AC

It’s like having a sweat lodge directly above your living quarters if your attic is not well-ventilated. The air conditioning system must perform a lot of work to combat the warmth coming from the attic. Lowering the temperature of the upper floors of the house as close to the outside temperatures as feasible before switching on your air conditioning system will help reduce its energy usage.

Attic fans are effective in cooling the attic by expelling the warm air. Therefore, your air conditioning system will be able to run more efficiently due to the decrease in required effort.

Cool Down Your Second Floor

Do you notice that the upper level of your home is hotter compared to the downstairs, even when the air conditioning is running? The warmth from the attic that is spilling over into your living area may be the cause of your problem. Closing off the loft area and putting in suitable insulation are potential solutions. An exhaust fan or attic fan within an attic that is adequately sealed and insulated can impede warmth from getting into the lower areas of the house. Consequently, the upper level might stay just as cool as the bottom floor.

Reduces the Cause of Roof Damage

Attic fans not just give air circulation, they also help reduce the amount of moisture and humidity in the attic. In the colder months, the chillier air from under the roof combines with the warm air from the attic, resulting in condensation and dampness beneath the roof. Moisture patches can cause destruction that will weaken the integrity of the roof. Such damages will entail high costs to repair.

Supports Attic Insulation

The insulation materials in your attic may not remain in good condition over a period of time. Extreme heat and humidity can accelerate the process. An attic fan may help keep your attic’s insulation in good condition for a longer period of time by taking away hot and muggy air.

Why Should You Maintain Your Attic Fan?

It is important to regularly check on your fan to verify that it is functioning properly and well maintained. Examining the belt and blades of each fan for signs of dry rot can help you determine if the fan is functioning properly.

Extreme fluctuations in temperature and high levels of humidity can result in dry rot.

Ensuring that your fans are functioning correctly saves you time, money, and avoids the difficulty of trying to lower the temperature of a very hot house. These issues can have an impact on how the fan operates, potentially resulting in problems.

Common Attic Fan Problems And How To Fix Them?

You are likely aware of the issues associated with your attic fan. Figuring out the source of the issue and trying to solve it on your own might let you mend straightforward difficulties without requiring the help of a service person. The following is a list of the usual troubles encountered by homeowners that own fans and their remedies.

1. Attic Fan Not Turning On

If the attic fan is not activating, this could possibly be caused by an electrical glitch, a malfunction with the thermostat, or the motor that powers the fan has stopped functioning.

Electrical Issue

The reason why your attic fan isn’t working may be due to an electrical issue, like a blown fuse, a tripped circuit breaker, or a faulty connection. You can identify the problem with the fan by connecting different functioning electrical devices to the same outlet and then trying the fan in different power sockets. Below are a few instructions to assist you in resetting a circuit breaker or replacing a burnt out fuse .

If the fuse and breaker are undamaged and yet none of the outlets are functioning, it could be a more serious issue that requires the attention of an expert.

Attic Fan Thermostat

If your fan has an adjustable temperature switch, activate it to cycle the fan on and off, disregarding the set temperature. If the fan starts up, you can assume that the issue is with the fan thermostat. The expense of fixing the thermostat is contingent on what caused the issue with the attic exhaust fan. It may be more cost effective to buy a new attic fan thermostat instead of trying to fix the current one.

Attic Fan Motor

This motor for the exhaust fan in the attic is the costliest repair needed. Once you conclude that the issue is not related to electricity or temperature control, it is probable that the problem lies in the motor. If the motor isn’t operating properly, one will need to either replace the motor, or obtain an entirely new fan for the attic.

2. Fan Motor Runs but the Blades Don’t Move

Occasionally, you might encounter a problem whereby the motor in the attic fan switches on yet the blades are not spinning. The cause of the problem could be the belt. In order to check the belt, you need to remove the fan’s external covering and examine the condition of the belt to see if it has any cracks, is loose, deteriorating, or has been damaged. If the belt is malfunctioning, substitute it with a different one.

3. Little or No Airflow

When the fan is operating on a high speed setting, it either runs very forcefully or not very efficiently. If the fan seems to be running very slowly or the air produced at the highest level is inadequate, it is possibly a result of an issue with the intake or exhaust. You must analyze what is entering and ensure the fan is situated aloft and close to the ceiling.

4. Attic Fan Making Humming Noise

The attic fan tends to emit a humming sound when it has a few propellers and is on a fast setting. To eliminate the hum, you must either run the fan at a slower rate or replace it with a model that has more blades. If you plan to substitute the fan, make sure you try it out at the shop to check if it’s noisy before you purchase it.

5. Attic Fan Making Loud Noise

Homeowners who possess attic fans often experience rattling and shaking, which is a typical issue. This happens when the fan doesn’t receive enough air. If the attic is not allowing airflow, you should either place a window at the opposite side or install one in order to address the issue. This will give the fan the airflow it needs.

Ensure that the window is located at a distance of at least thirty feet away from the fan.

6. Burning Smell from Attic Fan

If you detect an acrid odor coming from the exhaust, it is extremely probable that there is a malfunction with the fan motor. You may need to replace the motor. Before doing anything else, it may be beneficial to try lubricating the mechanism that spins the cutting rotor, or make sure the belt isn’t slipping. If the issue is still unresolved after this, it may be necessary to switch out the motor.

7. Attic Fan Not Turning Off

Some individuals encounter the problem of their attic fan not ceasing operation. This may be occurring because the thermostat is adjusted to a very low temperature. It could also be because somebody bypassed the normal electrical system to connect the power supply. For those of you who are pondering how to switch off the attic fan, there are two approaches for doing so. You could head to the attic and see if the fan has a changeable setting. If yes, turn it off. If the attic fan does not have a control switch, you must shut off the electrical circuit that powers it.