Attic fans? Any success stories for South LA heat?

If your certain rooms that are warmer than others there are a few things to check. Did this just start or did you notice this in the winter also? Here are a few things to do. When the unit is running put your hand on the vent and see if you can tell a difference in how much air comes out and the temp from vent to vent and room to room. Its possible you have a loose or leaking duct in the attic. After you do that wait until early one morning and go up in your attic with the unit running and do the same thing. Check the duct especially and all vents, bends and joints to see if you have leaks in any of these spots. Then go on your house and check to see if you have windows leaking air. I had this issue and it makes a huge difference. Also consider that this issue could just how your house is situated according the the sun. That could be making these rooms hotter. In this case you can tent the windows. Attic fan would help, does your house have turbines on the roof? Ridge cap? all are important questions.

Windows...check your windows. Have the seals broken on them? Are they current models or original to the house?

I didn’t get AC until I was 12, and then it was a window unit - just one...for the whole house.

Other than that, it was an attic fan only.

The good thing is that our entire house was shaded all day by Oak trees. We would open the windows, kick the attic fan on, and pull the outside air through the house.

My guess, it would drop The temp 15 degrees, plus create a breeze.

Still, 85 with a breeze isn’t cool.

Most days it wasn’t that bad though.

Attic fans work great when it's a decent temperature and I think more houses should have them.

I think you'd be miserable pulling outside air through your house when it's 90 degrees and 70 percent humidity.

For an attic fan to work you need enough free area opening in the soffit (soffit vents). And they need to be even around the house.

Air entering the attic will equal air leaving the attic.

Some rooms being hot could just be a balance issue. Each duct tap from the plenum should have been installed with a balance damper. Likely a spin tap but even better is a shoe tap with damper.

May need to check down air to closet grills to force more air to remote grills. Air will take the path of leaf resistance. Short runs will see more air unless you create a restriction (balance damper)

Also could be an insulation issue.

quote:

---

Trying to avoid that for as long as possible, so I’ve been researching attic fans as a possible short-term alternative. Anyone had success installing a new one?

Any pros/cons to be aware of?

---

I assume you are asking about electric fans that draw air in or out of an attic, as opposed to a whole house fan located in an attic.

We used to have an electric fan that pushed air out of a vent when the temperature crossed a certain number. The engine would last about 2 seasons on average. Changing it was a PIA because it would go out in the middle of summer when it would run most of the day.

When we re-roofed, our contractor suggested getting rid of the fan and putting three whirlybirds and a ridge vent. The overall effect of opening up the additional air openings works just as well or better than the fan, and it does not use electricity or need service.

Additional insulation on the attic floor also helped.

OP look into foam insulatating your attic...

Not cheap but a game changer especially if you have mechanical equipment in your attic space struggling in this heat and humidity

Pros:
Best sleep ever
It makes for a nice breeze
Not really expensive to run
Cons;
Ya stuff gonna be a little damp when you wake up..
I grew up with one, loved it.