It doesn’t get nearly as hot in Greensboro, NC, as it does in other parts of the country, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t go that extra mile to feel more comfortable in your home.
Likely, you don’t think about your attic when it comes to keeping cool — honestly, it wouldn’t be too surprising if you didn’t think about your attic that often in general. But there’s a chance that installing an attic fan may actually contribute to keeping your home cooler in the summer.
What Does an Attic Fan Do?
It’s easy to imagine that your attic is the first place to warm up when it’s hot out. The point of an attic fan, just like any other form of ventilation, is to direct the hot air out and invite cool air in. It helps to keep accumulated heat from being trapped and seeping down into the rest of your home.
There are other forms of roof ventilation besides an attic fan, and you probably already have at least one of them. Devices like ridge vents let in cool air and circulate it throughout the space. But if you’re looking for the best way to push out humid air, you can’t beat the active expulsion of an attic fan.
In certain homes, the addition of an attic fan can offer a great increase in energy efficiency. When your home’s baseline temperature isn’t higher than necessary, it allows your cooler to function without any added strain. However, it’s important to know that this type of improvement isn’t the case for every home design.
Should I Install an Attic Fan?
There isn’t a single answer to this question. In some cases, an attic fan can be an efficient and cost-effective addition to keeping your home cool in the summer. Their exact utility, though, has been a matter of debate for a long time.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has said that attic ventilation is enough to reduce the temperature inside an attic by up to twenty-five degrees and slow heat from being absorbed into the living space.
However, other studies have shown that if you’re in a home with quality insulation, the insulation alone can be enough to slow that inconvenient heat transfer. Many homes won’t feel a noticeable change from incorporating additional attic ventilation.
There’s even the chance that if your attic isn’t air-sealed, too much ventilation can create a suction effect.
This doesn’t sound bad until you realize that this is enough to suck conditioned air out of the rest of your home through unsealed holes and gaps in the attic floor. That means tons of wasted energy from your air conditioner, which means the system works harder, and you have to pay more.
So those are two major factors that don’t pair well with this specific kind of ventilation. Keeping that in mind, what kind of homes around Greensboro, NC, are ideal for an attic fan installation?
The Best Home for an Attic Fan
There are cases in which an attic fan can bring some additional efficiency to your home. Even if you have insulation, you can use one as long as your attic insulation is rated less than R-19.
It’s important to ensure that your space is thoroughly air sealed and has sufficient eave soffit ventilation space. If you have HVAC equipment kept in the attic, it’s vital to ensure that it’s been well-insulated and sealed.
In all of these situations, an attic fan can help keep costs down during the summer.
However, assuming that you want to regulate heat in cold weather and during warmer days, improving your attic insulation may be a better option. This will lower your internal climate costs all year long, and it’s only one of the ways Carolina Home Specialists can help you be more energy efficient.
Where to Find “Roofers Near Me?”
In the Triad area, Carolina Home Specialists provide spectacular service from your home’s roof to the fence surrounding your property. We’ve worked hard to build trust by being the smartest, friendliest, and most qualified service provider in the area.
Our team is born and raised in the area, and we consider our clients to be neighbors, friends, and friends-to-be.
Whatever you need, we can offer a free consultation and quote — and you can’t beat our prices. So if you want to cut your utility prices today, give Carolina Home Specialists a call. We serve Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, and surrounding areas.