GREENVILLE Blog

Top 5 Solar Attic Fan Benefits from Your Local Greenville Experts

The attics in homes around Greenville, South Carolina can easily reach over 130 degrees during the year and can have up to a 30-degree difference even in the winter! This is because of rising heat and, in many cases, an unchecked environment that's suffering from insufficient ventilation. Although a hotter attic may not initially raise any red flags, especially during the summer and winter, the excessive heat and humidity could lead to serious damage to your home and health!

Solar attic fans help to reduce these risks (and potential repair costs). Attic fans are helpful ventilation tools that circulate airflow in the uppermost part of the house. These aren't complicated devices and solar-powered alternatives are helping to cut heating and cooling costs even more than their traditionally powered counterparts! These types of vents help to even out temperatures between the inside and outside, like exchanging hotter indoor air for cooler air from outside.

5 Solar Attic Fan Benefits

  1. Better Ventilation

Can too much insulation and air sealing create a stuffy environment and prevent your home from being able to “breathe”?

This is a common misconception many homeowners mistake as a true face! On the contrary, when your home has properly installed insulation and air sealing, the materials won't disrupt the quality of the house's ventilation. Instead, there are many other important systems that contribute to proper airflow, which help the insulation and air sealing to regulate the temperature in your home.

A solar attic fan is a part of those important ventilation systems, improving the circulation within a building. These fans and vents cycle indoor and outdoor air throughout the year, like exchanging unwanted heat for cooler air in the summer. Instead of skipping out on your air sealing, installing an attic fan can create a healthier, “breathable” home.

 2. Reduced Moisture

The most recognizable feature of an attic fan is its ability to play traffic guard for incoming and outgoing air. But this provides a number of other advantages to your home. The system in place helps to reduce moisture collection as it dissipates humidity and condensation that would otherwise promote mold growth and water damage buildup.

Reducing moisture is an incredibly important factor throughout the cooler months as the heat within the attic is competing with the cold air that meets your roof. When airflow is regularly circulated, the attic fan reduces moisture build-up that typically results from the contact of the two varying temperatures that can create condensation.

Consider this question: When was the last time you took a look around your attic and thoroughly searched for any damages or potential hazards? Unfortunately, this area is rarely visited, which means that mold growth can be overlooked or unnoticed until it becomes a major problem. By scheduling regular evaluations of your home’s insulation and air sealing, local industry professionals are able to catch potential problems before they create hazards for your health and building integrity. Having a properly installed and maintained attic fan exponentially reduces these risks and additionally minimizes the potential damage to your attic’s insulation material.

  3. Environmentally Friendly

Attic fans in general are effective at improving the comfort and safety of your home. These products are a great investment on their own, but their solar-powered counterparts are an even greater investment with additional advantages. One of the primary benefits they hold over traditionally powered attic fans is that they're an environmentally friendly option.

Solar energy is a quality renewable resource to take advantage of, especially in South Carolina. When you choose to use sustainable energy sources over powered machines, you’re contributing to a positive impact on your local environment.

While a solar attic fan is an environmentally conscious alternative that reduces your carbon footprint, this energy efficiency also provides a great return on investment opportunity! These fans reduce the impact on your HVAC system to regulate temperature, saving your household on regular heating and cooling costs. Since they run on solar energy, there are also little to no operating costs for these types of attic fans, meaning there won't be an additional cost to your regular bills for operation.

 4. Reduced Noise

A traditionally powered attic fan tends to create additional noise, which is a primary reason many homeowners pass up the option to install these products. Most types of solar attic fans, on the other hand, are silent operators. This is partly due to the fact that they run at a lower level while still effectively keeping your home comfortable throughout the year.

These fans are electronically connected to a machine in the house that, in most cases, receives information from the thermostat. Powered attic fans, unlike their solar components, are more likely to produce excessive background noise pollution around your area. They can usually be heard when the device is stopping and starting. This is especially problematic during the months with more extreme temperatures, as the powered ventilators kick on more often and stay running.

 5. Simple Installation

Some homeowners may be worried about a potentially long and intrusive installation. Luckily, solar attic fans are a relatively simple product for experienced individuals to install quickly and effectively. It’s not necessarily an easy task for homeowners to attempt a DIY project since it involves roof penetration, which is why it’s a great idea to get the support of a local expert. Your local professional can help to safely install the solar attic fan without damaging your rooftop and surrounding area.

On top of an effective installation, you don't need to worry about additionally hiring an electrician to wire the solar attic fan to your home. Because they run on solar energy, these are standalone devices that don't need to be wired into the system of the house.

Finally, this factor also contributes to something many homeowners don't consider until it's time to put the property on the market: visual appeal! These ventilators aren't the type to need additional components sticking out of the roof of your home that you've likely seen from traditional devices. The solar attic fans in turn have a lower profile on the roof, resting only a couple of inches on top of the tiling or shingles as opposed to about a foot over.

Learn More About Solar Attic Fan Savings

Your attic plays a significant part in helping to regulate the temperature throughout your home and keep the space safe and comfortable. This is mainly because of the quality ventilation systems that help to circulate hot and cold air into their desired places. Contact your local insulation experts at Koala Insulation of Greenville to schedule your free evaluation and learn more about how solar attic fans can improve your environment.