On Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:28:08 GMT, Amanda Robin
wrote:

3) I've been thinking about getting an attic ventilator in the roof to
decrease temperatures in the summer. Do you think it would have a
measurable positive effect, even considering the leakage through the fan
slats?


Oh yeah, make sure you have adequate air intake directly into the
attic from the outside, and not from your air conditioned house. That
usually means soffitt vents.

I have a townhouse with continuous soffitt vents from one side to the
other, in front and in back. I'm not sure that much is necessary, but
that is the way the house came and I"m not complaining.

Also, after about 15 years, I noticed that part of the screening that
cover the soffitt opening was clogged like the lint filter on a dryer,
and all of it was covered with some amount of stuff. That shows how
much air is going through the vents. I peeled off the stuff like I
peel it off the lint from the dryer filter, and I figure I'm good for
another 15 or 10 years. There's nothing I can do to prevent this
except clean the outside air, including leaf particles, chopped up
grass, etc. I'm not talking about soot or winter stuff.


I definitely would not take out the fan, unless I absolutely needed
the space. When you sell it many prospective buyers will like it
because after 22 years, such fans are still much more respected here
than roof fans.


Because the attic never gets that hot, the house never gets that hot,
even if I'm out of town with the AC off, and because of that things in
the house don't dry out like they would if it were hotter. Of course
everything dries out with time, especially plastics and vinyl, and
some woods, but it's good that the house never gets that hot.

I don't turn the fan off when I go out of town. The motors have
thermal protection, I'm almost positive,, and every time one has
failed, it's just stopped spinning, and was hard to turn by hand also.
I don't think fire is an issue, afaik.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.