Does A Solar Attic Fan Save Money

My husband really thinks it s a great idea to buy a solar attic fan but i don t want to waste the money if it does little or nothing.

Does a solar attic fan save money.

Because of the negative pressure inside the house that these fans create i don t feel that they save you money on electricity or cooling costs. Attic fans are not recommended if you have central air conditioning because when you turn the fan on in the summer it depressurizes the attic but also reaches down into your house and starts drawing off air conditioned air effectively driving up your cooling costs. That means it could take between 10 15 years to get back to even with this investment. You re almost always better off using passive ventilation like a ridge vent a soffit vent that sort of thing to reduce attic temperatures and not use an attic fan.

Meanwhile solar attic fans are free to run lower your electric bills and have few costs beyond purchase and installation. Attic fans cool the attic which helps cool the rooms just under it. It s usually better to take the money you would spend on an attic fan and instead spend it on increasing the insulation levels in the attic and the airtightness of the attic floor plane. Even though electric attic fans can lower your air conditioning costs they cost more money to run than what they save you.

Larger homes that need larger a c units can save even more. This product requires direct sunlight to operate. For example if you had a hip roof. Hip roofs are tough.

Here are some more benefits of getting a solar attic fan. Find out whether it is economical to run an attic fan. A single fan typically costs 300 to 600 plus an extra 100 to 150 each for installation. The only time i would ever use an attic fan is if i had a roof that was unusually difficult to vent passively.

Using a whole house fan can result in a savings of over 300 each month of running a 3500w a c unit during the hottest part of summer. As hgtv points out cooling a 1 000 square foot home with solar attic fans can save you about 40 per year in a warm climate like florida. Let s assume that you have a supertight house and no. But you ll likely need two fans to make an impact says danny.