How Well Do Solar Powered Attic Fans Work

Heat builds inside an improperly vented attic the sun beats down on a homes roof and heats up the enclosed attic.

How well do solar powered attic fans work.

Attic fans exhaust hot air from your attic to the outside. These fans are designed to remove excess heat from your attic which in theory is supposed to lessen the load on the air conditioning in your home. That warmed air then circulates through your home forcing your air conditioner to work harder to maintain a constant temperature. If your attic space is over 1 800 square feet you will need enough solar fans to move 8 000 cfm.

But they re much easier to install since no wiring is needed. You need that amount of air if not more to get any sort of cooling benefit from the fans. To determine the number of cubic feet per minute needed for a power vent fan multiply the number of square feet in your attic by 0 7. Principal research scientist danny parker of the florida solar energy center has tested solar attic fans and says the gable end models work the best since they move considerably more air than roof mounted mushroom top units you can install pv fans yourself if you have good carpentry skills but it s not necessarily an easy job.

Solar powered attic vent fans usually don t move as many cubic feet of air per minute cfm as hardwired fans. Intense sunlight can create heat faster than one or two small fans can cool an area. Solar attic fan provides air circulation the photovoltaic panel of the solar attic fan collects sunlight that powers. An attic fan is installed on the slanted side of your roof or on one of the gable sides of your attic.

How an attic fan works.