Hello,
An attic fan has died (moment of silence). The device that is
currently installed is a thermostat-driven electric exhaust fan. I'm
looking to determine whether the fan even needs to be replaced or to
simply leave the opening as-is as a passive vent (it looks like the
motor cannot be removed without going on the rooftop, which may not be
an option). The details a

- The house is in Western NY.
- Insulation was professionally installed in June into the attic.
- Last summer, the temps climbed into the high 80's-90's for maybe a
week or two with the attic reaching ~110-120 for maybe a handful of
days.
- The winters can be cold for a few months.
- There appears to be adequate soffit vents to the attic area.

I'd like to determine the need before the brutally cold weather hits,
but I am looking for more specific information related to temperature,
humidity, etc. With the additional insulation and the short time
within the house, I do not have current visual gauges regarding
previous moisture. There does appear to have been previous moisture
issues but the insulation that was in the house had been improperly
installed.

My questions a
1. I understand from other posts that temperatures that reach ~120 or
higher can be the beginning of the damage-inducing range. Is this
over generally considered the norm in hot climates (i.e., 120 all
summer), or an "if it ever reaches, assume the worst" guideline?

2. Is the rule-of-thumb in the NE to get a humidistat? I was
thinking of buying a bare-bones humidistat and just recording the
values over a few weeks, but have not found a guideline (i.e., if it
is consistently above x%). Or, would visual inspection be enough
(i.e., if you see moisture, get a humidistat, if not you should be
fine)?

Am I overanalyzing this to to death? Probably. I apologize.

TIA,
Dave