Solar Powered Attic Fan | Residential Solar Power Use

Use a solar powered attic fan in your home ... In summer months the temperature in your attic can become very high, sometimes reaching as high as 150º F. This high temperature is far hotter than the outside air temperature and will eventually influence the temperature of the rooms below, rendering air conditioning ineffective or at the very least lowering its efficiency. The attic becomes hot for two reasons - firstly because it is heated directly by the Sun and secondly because hot air rises and tends to gather at the top of the house. An inefficient air conditioning system means that you are using more electricity and ultimately more money.

One easy way to deal with this problem is to install a fan in the attic, and what better than to put in a solar powered attic exhaust fan. An exhaust fan will help to get rid of all of that hot air and ultimately will keep the whole house cooler. But why a solar powered fan? Well, firstly you don't need to go to all the trouble of wiring up a conventional exhaust fan, which would need a switch downstairs from the attic as well as a thermostat in the attic. A solar powered fan comes as a completely self-contained unit. There are no wires to mess around with. You simply have to cut a circular hole in the roof shingles - the diameter will depend on the solar fan you have purchased but will be given in the instructions - insert the fan and seal up the roof again. Thereafter the fan is completely self-operating.

A couple of notes that are very important. Make sure that you install the fan in a south-facing slope of the roof - there is no point in its facing north, as it will not get the direct Sun. It must face the Sun. The more Sun the fan gets, the faster it will run so ideally place the fan in a position that is not going to get any shade from nearby large trees. If there is a problem then it is possible to buy a fan with a remote solar panel - these normally come with 20-feet of cable so that you can erect the panel some distance away from the fan in a more favorable position.

If you live in a part of the country where it gets extremely hot like Nevada, you might want to install either two solar fans or add an extra panel to the one already on your fan.