"Jan Philips" wrote in message
...
I think I know the answer to this, but I want to get some feedback.

We live in a hot climate. The second story of our house was built
into the attic. The upstairs and downstairs have separate air
conditioners. The attic is reasonably well insulated and vented, but
it had two attic fans. About two years ago one of the fans quit
working. About a year ago the one on the other end quit working. Now
starting about noon or 1PM on hot days we can feel hot air coming down
the stairwell. The upstairs a/c can't keep up - it gets up to 5
degrees above the thermostat setting. The a/c seems to be working, it
just can't keep up when the attic gets so hot. It gets over 120F in
the attic.

It would be worth it to get the attic fans fixed, right?
--
Replace you know what by j to email

I have the same two attic fans not working problem, but haven't had the
problem of the upstairs A/C not keeping up. I too have two-zone HVAC. It's
too early for me to tell if there is a noticeable difference in my
electricity bill, and after spending almost $800 5 years ago to have my two
fans installed, the question for me is, will yet another $800 investment
ever realize a return on investment of saved A/C over time.

I now plan to replace my fans (again).

Two factors:

1. How much longer do you expect to live in your current house before (if
ever) moving.
2. If you eventually move, you will be required to repair/replace your attic
fans beforehand, unless you negotiate with the buyer some type of credit for
not replacing them yourself. At that point you might as well repair/replace
them a few years beforehand to at least get some value out of your
investment.

You might also want to have more insulation installed in the attic, and make
sure that the attic access door is covered with a large bat of insulation to
keep hot air from leaking into your upstairs through the access door. Just
move it out of the way when needing to enter the attic. I did this two
years ago (added more attic insulation and a large bat at the access door)
and have noticed an improvement.

Is the A/C not keeping up solely due to the attic fans? In other words, did
you not have this problem when one or both attic fans were working? I would
be surprised and would think the main issue is not enough insulation and
inadequately insulated attic access door.

You could also consider some type of reflective material on the underside of
your roof at the top of the attic.

You might want to consult an insulation company for their recommendations.
In the long run you'll need to get your fans repaired or replaced,
especially if you sell and move.