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Q: |
What is a solar powered attic
vent and what does it do?
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A: |
A solar powered attic vent is an
attic ventilation fan which runs solely off solar power. These
ventilators fall into the category of active (powered) attic ventilation, where
outside air is forced through the attic and out the vent to effectively
cool the attic space. This method of attic ventilation is many
times more effective than passive (natural) ventilation since the
air inside the attic is exchanged more times per an hour with a
powered vent than with a passive vent. |
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Q: |
Why would I
want to cool off my attic?
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A: |
During the summer, as the sun
radiates heat onto your roof, your roof's shingles or tile becomes
very hot. This heat is transferred through the roof and in
turn heats up the air inside your attic. If the hot air stays
inside your attic, the heat from this air will eventually
enter your
home.
While attic insulation slows this
process, it does not eliminate the heat transfer process entirely.
If your attic is not very well insulated, it will do very little to stop
the heat from getting through. Additionally, a hot attic stays hot
long after the sun goes down, so the process of heat transfer into your
home never really ends.
By removing the hot air from your attic, the process of heat
transfer into your home is minimized. The less attic heat that
is transfer into your home, the less your air conditioner will need
to work. If your air conditioner unit doesn't need to run as
much to keep your home cool, you save energy and money. |
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Home Without Proper Attic Ventilation |
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After Installing an Attic Breeze Solar Attic Vent |
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Q: |
What
are the cost benefits of installing a solar attic fan?
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A: |
How much money you will save is
greatly dependent on the price of electricity in your area, the
amount of attic space in your home, the efficiency of your attic
insulation, and the amount of ventilation your solar attic vent is
able to provide (see our
Estimated Savings calculator for more details). In our
experience, a typical installation will usually pay for itself in
savings within 1-2 summers of use. |
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Q: |
How are ridge vents, turbine vents, or gable
vents different from a solar attic vent?
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A: |
Ridge vents, gables vents, and
dormer vents work by passive (natural) draft air convection.
This means that as hot air rises in your attic, it should flow out
from these vents creating a natural draft through the attic.
However, as you have probably noticed if you currently have any of
these vents installed on your home, they are not very effective at
reducing the temperature of your attic.
Turbine vents are designed to pull hot air out of your attic when
the wind blows. These vents are equally ineffective at
removing attic heat due to frequent mechanical problems, low air
moving capability, and a dependence on the wind to supply the power
needed to induce a draft through the attic.
Attic Breeze solar attic vents operate on the principle of
active (forced) draft air convection. Our vents create an air
draft through your attic many times more powerful than that of
natural draft air convection techniques. By inducing a greater
air daft through the attic, our solar attic vents can effectively
cool your entire attic and keep it cool throughout the day. |
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Q: |
Can I
install a solar attic fan if I already have ridge vents installed on
my home?
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A: |
Yes, no problem. Ridge vents do
not interfere with the operation of our solar attic fans. The
ridge vents will work in reverse, acting as air inlet vents when
your solar attic vent is in operation. Keep this in mind when
deciding on the placement of your solar attic vent unit. When
installing our products in conjunction with ridge vents, the solar
attic vent unit will need to be placed lower than normal from the
ridge line of the roof to appropriately balance the air flow through
the attic. |
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Q: |
Can I install an Attic Breeze
solar attic vent if I already have turbine vents installed on my
home? |
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A: |
Yes, our products can be used to
either replace turbine vents or work in conjunction with existing
turbine vents. If replacing a turbine vent with one of our
products, you will need to make the current turbine vent roof hole
slightly larger to accommodate our vent. It is also good
practice to restrict the air flow from any turbine or dormer vent
within 10 feet of our solar attic fans to better balance total air
flow through the attic. This can easily be done by tacking
flashing, plywood, or even heavy cardboard to the bottom side of the
passive vent. This does not need to be a permanent seal, it
only needs to be a restriction to air flow. |
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Q: |
Are these solar attic fans very
loud when operating? |
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A: |
No, not at all. You can barely
hear them running when you're standing right next to one. The
fan blades used in our solar attic vents are specially designed for
whisper quiet operation. |
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Q: |
Are there situations when
installing a solar attic vent would not be a benefit? |
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A: |
Yes, there are some applications
where a solar attic vent (or any type of powered attic vent) would
not be appropriate. Attic Breeze does not recommend
using our products on homes or buildings that have drop ceilings,
open attic chases, or any other building feature that allows air
from the living space to freely enter the attic space.
Due to our unique design, our attic vents create a powerful air
draft through your attic. We strongly recommend capping or
sealing any open vents, chases, or ceiling seams before installing
our products to minimize the potential for conditioned air seepage
into the attic space. |
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Q: |
Is there any chance of attic
depressurization while using your solar attic vents? |
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A: |
If properly installed, the answer is
no. Any powered attic fan (including ours) needs the required
amount of air intake vents to operate properly. If the
necessary amount of air intake vents are available, then air flow
through the attic will follow the path of least resistance and
depressurization of the attic will not be possible. |
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Q: |
Is any wiring required to install
your solar attic vents? |
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A: |
No, our solar attic vents ship
completely assembled and ready for use. All you need to do is
install the unit. |
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Q: |
What is the purpose of the thermal switch? |
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A: |
Attic
Breeze solar attic vents include a thermal switch as part of
our standard package. When your attic temperature is less than
about 80°-90°F, the thermal sensor will shut down the attic fan.
We do this for a few reasons:
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During the
fall and spring when attic temperatures are less than 90°F,
there is very little driving force for heat transfer across the
insulation in your attic (~20°F temperature difference between
the attic and living area vs. ~70°F difference during the summer
when the attic is hot).
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By shutting down the attic fan when it's not
needed, we can greatly extend the run life of the fan motor,
saving you money long term.
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Additionally, in many areas of the country
where attic moisture build up during winter is not an issue,
shutting down the attic fan will help reduce winter heating
bills (heat can flow in either direction through your attic
insulation; the greater the temperature difference between the
attic and living area, the greater the amount of heat transfer
regardless of how much insulation is present).
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Q: |
Can I get an Attic Breeze solar attic fan without a
thermal switch so that I can allow it to run during the
winter? |
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A: |
Yes, this is an option you can choose during purchasing. |
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Q: |
Do your solar attic vents come
with a battery back-up? |
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A: |
No, a battery isn't necessary.
Our solar attic vents run when the sun is out to keep your attic cool.
If the sun isn't out due to rain or cloud cover, then your attic isn't
getting hot and doesn't need to be cooled. If our solar attic vents are properly
installed, your attic will not be hot
when the sun goes down and will not need night time
cooling. |
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Q: |
Does Attic Breeze have
installers? |
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A: |
No, we are the manufacturer. Attic Breeze has
dealers in many areas of the country who perform installations,
however, these dealers are
not directly affiliated with Attic Breeze. To better
serve our customers, Attic Breeze makes great efforts to
identify dealers and independent contractors across the nation with
the experience, skills, and customer service needed to meet and
exceed our customer's expectations. |
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Q: |
Will your product help if I have already installed a radiant
barrier in my attic? |
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A: |
Yes, there may be benefits to installing a solar attic fan in
conjunction with a radiant barrier.
A radiant barrier is really nothing more than a very effective form
of attic insulation. While a radiant barrier does prevent heat
from entering your home through the attic, it does so at the expense
of allowing your roof to become excessively hotter than it would
otherwise without the radiant barrier present.
Basically, with
a radiant barrier installed, as the sun heats your roof and
shingles, the heat cannot pass the barrier so it has no where to go.
Thus, your attic or shingles can become much hotter than they would
without the radiant barrier, which can cause shingles to deteriorate
and may greatly impact the life expectancy of your roof.
If the radiant barrier is applied to attic floor like typical
insulation, then you can benefit from the installation of a solar
attic fan by allowing the fan to remove the excessive heat build
up and extend the life expectancy of your
shingles. However, if the radiant barrier is applied your
attic ceiling (roof), a solar attic fan can only help remove the
excess heat from the attic that passes through the radiant barrier.
Since most radiant barriers allow 25-30% of radiant heat to pass
through to the attic, installation of a solar attic fan can still be
an effective method for further reducing energy usage due to
cooling. |
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Q: |
Will your solar attic vents really stand
up to bad weather conditions? |
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A: |
We believe our solar attic vents
are better built than any other solar
attic vent currently available. Attic Breeze solar attic vents are built entirely
from high quality, corrosion resistant metal alloy parts and are
designed to withstand tough weather conditions.
While many of our competitors build their vent units from plastic to save money, we at
Attic Breeze build our solar attic vents to last. |
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