NW JACKSONVILLE Blog

What Do Attic Fans Do: Improving Your Jacksonville Building

Like many homeowners, you probably only visit your attic a few times throughout the year, potentially to check for pests or store old boxes and decorations. If you've ever tried to venture into the upper part of your house during the summer months, you'll notice that the heat rising can make the area uncomfortably stuffy and humid. In some Jacksonville homes, it can even reach up to 140 degrees!

While it may not be a priority to make your attic a comfortable oasis if you're hardly ever up there, excessive heat and humidity can damage your building envelope and insulation materials. In severe cases of neglect, it can even increase the risk of health hazards! How can you make sure this area is temperature-regulated?

The Importance of Temperature Regulation

Your home needs to stay temperature-regulated in order to have a comfortable environment. Your HVAC system, ventilation, insulation, and air sealing are all components of maintaining the desired temperature evenly throughout a home. Each system works to support each other to improve the climate control capabilities of the building.

What Are Attic Fans?

Attic fans are also a significant aid to reduce troubling temperatures and take off some of the brutal heat. These ventilation tools keep air moving through the uppermost part of your home. They aren't complicated and some models are even solar-powered, an energy-efficient option that can cut down your expenses even further.

Attic fans are vents that circulate the hot indoor air with cooler air from the outdoors in the summer. Our experts at Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville can help you and your household find the best type of attic fan for the needs of your home. We’ve developed a breakdown of how attic fans work and help to improve your environment.

How Do Attic Fans Work? Providing Assistance To Your Jacksonville Home

• Ventilation

An attic fan’s primary purpose is to ventilate the air in your home. Unfortunately, many Jacksonville area homeowners believe the common myth that too much insulation or air sealing can create a stuffy environment or that their home needs to “breathe”. Sealing your home helps with temperature regulation while other systems in your home, like attic fan ventilation, allow for proper airflow to prevent stuffiness or humidity.

Your attic fan and vents exchange indoor and outdoor air so unwanted heat is circulated for cooler air from outside. This is a healthier alternative to letting your home “breathe” through reduced air sealing. The resulting air leaks let in more than just outdoor air; pests and pollutants reduce your indoor air quality and negatively impact the airflow in your home.

• Moisture

Your ventilation system isn't just a customs agent for incoming and outgoing air. Attic fans also dissipate humidity and moisture that could be encouraging mold growth and leakage. This makes attic fans equally important in the wintertime, even in Northern Florida: the heat that rises to your attic is competing with cold air on your roof, which can create condensation. Regularly circulated air from your attic fans helps to prevent the moisture build-up from this contact of two different temperatures.

Whether it's because of infrequent visits to the attic or unfamiliar warning signs, mold is a common problem for homeowners who find moisture problems too late. Regular inspections of the insulation and air sealing by industry experts can help to catch potential problem areas before they grow into a health hazard or excessive property damage. However, prevention is often the best medicine: reduce moisture in your attic with improved attic fans.

• Insulation

While some insulation materials are made to last up to 15 years, damage, deterioration, and neglect can drastically move up this timetable. Attic fans significantly contribute to a longer lifespan in these materials. A pest infestation, natural weathering, and even hidden leaks all impact this "out of sight, out of mind" area, which means you need to have quality prevention to keep these hazards at bay.

Efficient insulation coverage is responsible for regulating heat transfer, the rate at which heat travels through structures like your walls, ceilings, and even floors. Installing attic fans in your North Florida attic reduces the need for maintenance, removal, and reinstallation of your insulation.

The Return On Investment Of An Attic Fan

Once you learn about all of the advantages of attic fans, it’s understandable that you might be looking for the catch. Luckily, these benefits even extend into their cost and return on investment opportunities.

Attic fans reduce energy waste and improve energy efficiency primarily by assisting your HVAC system. By contributing to temperature regulation, the unit doesn't need to stay on as long to keep your home warmer or cooler. They also reduce the need for other maintenance costs, such as insulation updates, burnt-out HVAC parts, mold, and weathering damage.

However, it's important to remember that installation cost is still a factor; this is necessary because many homes aren't designed to easily install and run a new attic fan or ventilation system. In order to safely and efficiently install new equipment, it's important to consult an industry expert. At Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville, we're focused on helping our neighbors find cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions that improve comfort without disrupting your daily routine. Our team of professionals is trained and experienced in installing new attic fans that don’t impact the integrity of your environment, increase costs, or create discomfort.

How Can You Reduce Your Jacksonville Area Energy Bills?

Cutting down on your Jacksonville energy bills is an easy task with the help of your local insulation experts. At Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville, we can provide your household with details about the current condition of your home's insulation and air sealing. With this information, you can make informed decisions on insulation upgrades while taking into consideration both your current schedule and budget. Contact your local insulation experts at Koala Insulation of Northwest Jacksonville to schedule your free evaluation and learn more about your attic fan options.