Energyvanguard Power Attic

They ve been well discussed here and other places but briefly they re not cost effective don t deal with the problem where it starts are using convection to solve a radiant heat problem and can even be dangerous by backdrafting combustion appliances and putting carbon monoxide in the home.

Energyvanguard power attic.

For decades concerned homeowners have looked for ways to keep their attics cool. Now we don t have to settle for a technology that pulls conditioned air up from the house. These are real problems from real houses that have really happened. Then they moved from passive to active and latched onto the powered attic ventilator.

The new energy code that went into effect in georgia this year dealt a body blow to the power attic ventilator industry. An attic that s brought inside the building enclosure is a beautiful thing. In fact the home power article states that a typical 250 watt fan would use 180 kwh per month if run continuously. Another would be backdrafting a water heater and putting carbon monoxide in the house.

There s a new boss in town. These attic fans can move a lot of air through an attic but that doesn t have much effect on the radiant heat flow. One potential problem would be sucking moist moldy air up from the crawl space intothe house. Gable vents ridge vents turtlebacks and whirlybirds.

This is most often done with spray polyurethane foam spf insulation either open cell or closed cell. A better way to reduce the attic temperature is to go after the source the radiation constantly blasting the attic from the bottom of the roof deck and rafters. Whether you re a home or business owner we can help. But there s really a more fundamental reason that power attic ventilators won t help a lot and for some reason i didn t mention that in the original article.

Energy vanguard this powered attic ventilator in a gable wall was one of eight in that attic. They re going after the air but the air is hot only because all the solid materials are hot. That s one reason power attic ventilators aren t a good solution. Only one type is allowed.

And it s part of the reason that my state georgia has banned power attic ventilators unless they re solar powered which was a concession needed to get the grid powered fans banned. Attic power ventilators are simply not worth the cost and effort. Sources such as the billings gazette energy vanguard and home power all have articles that essentially say the same thing. Energy vanguard is your source for home performance training consulting hvac design and more.

Powered attic ventilators are the worst way to try to keep your attic cool. Power attic ventilators can cause problems even without air conditioning.