[chiefrose]

I am considering have a solar attic fan installed and was wondering if it is worth the cost. I would appreciate knowing if those who have one have seen a benefit in cooling the attic. Also, if this translates into a cooler interior and reduced A/C costs.

[blueash]

I have a remote thermometer which I placed into my attic. During the worst of the summer heat the temperature was about 125 degrees. I do not have a before reading but we have two solar fans and our thermostat is set the same as our neighbors and our electric bill is lower. I can't prove it is from the solar fan and there are online opinions both ways as to whether they work or not. The big issue is whether the air that is sucked into the attic to replace the air pushed out by the fan is outside air or are you sucking your air conditioned air out of your own house up into the attic which might actually increase the A/C bill, although it would cool the attic. Suggest a google search using "do solar attic fan save money"

[chiefrose]

Originally Posted by jimbo2012

Do a forum search, there was a very detailed paper written on this, it basicly said it sucks the cool air out of the house through all the small openings in walls and ceilings.

I real big on solar that article stop me from putting it in.

I should have known to go direct to the big pro-solar guy.

[Billyworld]

I went to the Marion market and two local Companies were there selling attic fans. I talked to the first one and he bashed the other and their product. I talked to the second and he bashed the first and their product. Both these "clowns" totally turned me off on doing business with them. I did grab a brochure from each. I then came home to research both products with no luck on either one of their solar fans. I did find out that the two best units were Solaraire and Attic Breeze. Solaraire was tough to buy from as they needed payment in advance and four days before shipping after the check clears the bank. I bought the Attic Breeze instead and I put it on my credit card and it shipped the next day. It was delivered for $608.00 to my door. A friend just so happened to come down from Ohio and he had already installed several of these fans for his job. We installed the fan in a hour and a half. The fan works great and in my opinion is a much higher quality of fan that is being sold in TV. I don't know what the difference in the attic temp will be in summer but I can tell you it blows air like the Big Dog. I would recommend to buy the fan yourself and hire a licensed roofing contractor to do the install. These roofing guys starve in the dry winter months and will gladly do the install. ------Save yourself from listening to all the BS and negative marketing from the local clowns.

[NJblue]

I'm not so sure of this. I had a two story house up north and on hot summer days the AC could not get the upstairs cool because of the heat in the attic. I put in an electrically powered attic fan and from then on the upstairs was easy to keep cool. As long as your attic is properly vented along the soffits, any air sucked up through tiny openings from the house will be miniscule by comparison.

I would be more inclined to use an electrically driven fan since they are far cheaper and have the power to move more air and don't really consume that much power.

[patfla06]

Originally Posted by NJblue

I'm not so sure of this. I had a two story house up north and on hot summer days the AC could not get the upstairs cool because of the heat in the attic. I put in an electrically powered attic fan and from then on the upstairs was easy to keep cool. As long as your attic is properly vented along the soffits, any air sucked up through tiny openings from the house will be miniscule by comparison.

I would be more inclined to use an electrically driven fan since they are far cheaper and have the power to move more air and don't really consume that much power.

My DH has come to the same conclusion.
We had one on our N.J. house and it did a great job.