Attic Vent
 

Any recommendations for someone to install a hardwired attic vent? Approx cost?
Thanks for your help!

Solar Guys would be a good place to start, 1-866-641-1963, very nice people.

The newer solar attic fans work well. They are not like the older units. The advantage of installing one is you get a 30% federal tax credit, not deduction, on your income tax for the cost of then entire job. I'm not sure how long this solar credit will be in place but is significantly reduces the cost of the fan.

I would ask about the CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating of the SOLAR fan versus an 120 volt AC powered fan. There will be a cost for the new AC supply, if you are lucky the supply for the attic light can be tapped for the new fan. There will be a cost to cut the hole in the roof for the vent (should be the same for either type of installation). I would opt for a thermostatic control on the AC powered fan this will allow it to turn on when needed and run until the attic is cooled off. Finally, look at the costs, installed and running, unless you put in a really big AC powered fan, the cost will probably be 10 to 20 cents per day, while the solar is free, however the installed costs between the 2 options maybe significant.

The Solar Guys install two models. RM1500 and RM2400. There is a chart on their web site used to determine how many of each fan you need depending on the square footage of your home. AC powered fans will give you more CFM but the solar fans produce more than enough air flow. Initially, I had them install two RM2400s but it was too much for my 2600 sqft home. At peak times I could head the RM2400 in my living room if it was quiet so I had them replace one RM2400 with a RM1500 and that solved the problem. Now my attic never gets more than 10 degrees hotter than the outside air. I have temperature sensors in my attic with the data that shows this. Before the attic fans, my attic would superheat to around 150 degrees on a 90 degree+ day here in the Villages. The typical thought is that you need a huge attic fan to evacuate the hot air but assuming your soffit vents are not clogged and you have adequate air circulation in your attic, all you need is a fan with a moderate CFM to move the hot air out of the attic. A fan that's too large will start sucking air from the living space and you don't want that either.

Solar Guys The Solar Guys: The Villages & Central FL - Solatube(R) Skylight Experts

Nuff Said .... LOL

Solar Guys analyzed my home and suggested the fan that was needed. I got the electric fan and I just shut it off in cooler weather.

How do you know that the fan is not sucking conditioned air from your living space? If the fan creates a negative pressure in your attic, air will be sucked out from any ceiling leak or other opening, not just through the soffit vents.

If your attic intake vents are open which they should be, these attic fans will not generate enough negative pressure to pull air from the living space. But if you go with a high CFM electric fan, then yes you could exceed the air intake from your soffit vents and create negative pressure or even pull in air through any other non-active roof vents. As far as letting them run in the winter, yes that will help remove moisture that collects in the attic during that time of year.

Attic vent fans are typically controlled by a thermostat. Therefore, the fans would not typically be running in the winter since the attic temperature would not be high enough to activate the thermostatically controlled fan.