The Solar Attic Vent

Solar Attic Vent is a simple and an environmentally wise solution that can save you a major part of your air-conditioning bill.

The Advantages of Solar Operated Attic Vents

Solar attic vents are very efficient in saving home energy.

• Powered exclusively by free of charge solar energy
• Self contained
• Easy to install
• No connection to the home wires is required,
• You don’t need an electrician to install it
• No special permits are required, attic fans installation are exempted
• A back-up battery is not required.
• The solar attic fan increases its capacity when the sun is up in the sky, the hottest hour of the day

Solar attic fans ventilate out the heat mass in the attic space and reduce the load on the air conditioning system. As a result the air conditioners power consumption is dramatically reduced. The enhanced fresh air circulation reduces the humidity (vapors) caused by showering and cooking.

Usage and Size

A 10 watt solar vent can efficiently ventilate up to 1,200 square feet (108 square meter), for bigger size homes use two 10 watt vents or one 20 watt vent.

Regardless of the name solar solar powered attic vents will effectively ventilate not only attics but also lofts, working areas, RV, storage areas, roofed parking areas and small farm buildings (e.g. barns)

Summary Note

Solar attic fans are superior to the legacy passive solar vents. The passive vents are dependent on air breezes, the existence of which is not guaranteed during times you need them mostly. Active, solar operated attic fans provide this extra ventilation when it is really needed

A Testimonial on Solar Attic Vent

Here is a testimonial that an East Coast reader sent me on his experience with a solar attic vent he has installed

I bought my solar-powered attic fan in 2004. I installed it myself, and was quite pleased with the simplicity of the installation. Not having to run power and control to the unit made it one of the faster home improvements that I've done. I have a reasonable amount of thermal insulation in the attic (around 12 inches of fiberglass) and the attic is fairly well vented (passively). I didn't actually measure the difference in the temperature in the rooms of our upper floor before and after the installation, but it was very obviously cooler after the installation of the fan. I guess the temperature in the rooms dropped by around 8 degrees F, so therefore the attic temperature had a big temperature drop.

Most articles talk about the reduction in air conditioning costs from attic fans, however there is more to it than that. Before adding the fan, our single-zone air conditioning system would never get the upper rooms cool enough in Summer, unless the lower floor rooms were made much too cold. After adding the fan, both floors are now within around 2 degrees F of each other. This meant that the house is much more comfortable without having to add a second air conditioning zone (or additional air conditioner) and we were able to live with a higher overall temperature on the lower floor (saving electricity).

Overall, I'm very pleased with my solar-powered attic fan. It reduced our cooling load, increased our comfort, runs silently, requires no power, no control and no maintenance.