Why You Should Install an Attic Fan

An Attic Fan Can Save Dramatically On Home Energy Costs and Home Repair Costs

By Mark J. Donovan




During hot summer days your home’s roof temperature can approach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Much of that heat works its way into your home’s attic, and from there eventually some of it makes it way into the living areas of your home. When the sun sets, that trapped heat doesn’t just evaporate. It stays trapped in your attic and home, causing you to either have to live with the heat or keep your air conditioner running at full capacity for much longer. This is where the installation of an attic fan can be so invaluable.

Besides making your home miserably hot and uncomfortable, trapped attic heat also affects the integrity of your home’s roof shingles.

The trapped attic heat can lead to the accelerated breakdown and eventual failure of asphalt shingles. Again, this is why installing an attic fan is so helpful.

However summer is not the only season for why you should install an attic fan. During the winter months, when the home is closed up tight, moist air from the living areas of the home works its way up into the attic. This is particularly true if the attic’s home is not well insulated.



With doors and windows continuously kept closed during the winter months the home has little ventilation. Thus, moist air from showers, cooking and laundry eventually finds its way up into the attic, if it is not properly vented from the main living areas of the home, which most of the time it is not. If not vented from the attic, warm moist air in the attic during winter months will condense and then freeze on the roof sheathing and rafters. This can eventually lead to mold and mildew growth in the attic, which can then present all types of health hazards to the home’s occupants. The trapped moist air can also potentially lead to rotting of the roof’s framing structure.
Solar Attic Fan 36-watt – Black – with 25-year Warranty – Florida Rated

With the installation of an attic fan, the attic fan can help to prevent the warm moist air from staying trapped and condensing in the attic during the winter months. When the attic fan is operating it helps to draw cold outside air into the attic from the soffit vents, located near the roof eaves, and pushes the warm moist air out of the attic via the roof vent.

This same process works in the summer with the attic fan. When the attic fan is operating during the summer months, the cooler outside air is drawn into the attic via the soffit vents and the hot attic air is vented out the attic roof vent. Thus, the heat battery that would otherwise exist in the attic is eliminated, enabling the air conditioner to work less in your home, and saving you on your home cooling costs.

In the past homeowners had to remember to turn on and off the attic fan. In addition, the attic fan had to be wired into the home’s existing wiring that added to the cost of the attic fan installation. With today’s attic fan technology those problems are a thing of the past. Attic fans can be purchased that automatically turn on and off, based on the attic temperature.

Attic Conversion Bid Sheet

In addition, attic fans can be purchased that are solar powered, thus eliminating the need for calling in an electrician to help with the installation of the attic fan.

So if you want to save on your home energy costs and extend the life of your home’s roof consider installing an attic fan. The investment will pay for itself in a short time and you’ll live more comfortably in your home more of the year.


For help on Attic Conversion and Attic Renovation Projects, see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Attic Conversion Bid Sheet. The Attic Conversion Bid sheet will help to ensure that you hire the right contractor so that your attic conversion project is built correctly, on time and budget.

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