My attic hit 150F today

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There is zero ventilation currently

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do you not have soffit vents?

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whirlybird vents really help?

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ugh yes....

Get an exhaust fan. It's the only way to really move any air around.

I added two vents a little over a year ago and paid Garcia $1500 to do it,

My attic now runs 10 degrees above the outside temps. I also have ridge vents and ample soffit vents. The whirlybirds were added because the ridge vents weren’t cutting it

The whirlybirds work well. The best thing is a thermostat controlled exhaust fan.

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I added two vents a little over a year ago and paid Garcia $1500 to do it, -- Damn that seems high

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I got three quotes that were all within $100 of each other.

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If this was the OT I’d comment on a way to get that job done plus benefits

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The only thing Garcia DID was on the contract. I kinda felt screwed, but that was just because of the $1500 cost. (Powered vents were $1800 and that didn’t include the electric hookup)

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It is high. Absolutely get multiple quotes when doing add ons to a pre-existing roof.

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I don’t disagree that it was more than I thought it should be but…

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I got three quotes that were all within $100 of each other.

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Wouldn't the ridge vents & whirly birds work against one another?

Also, has anyone tried that heat guard barrier film? Seems to me like that wouldn't do very much.

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I've installed the radiant barier on 75% of the attic as well, allowing it to vent towards the upper reaches of the roof. I think it has helped some, but hard to tell. I was hampered by the shape of my "Acadian" style roof. Most of the houses that were built around BR in the late 90s - 2000s were these high pitched hip roofs. I can dig up my thread about the journey for the full details.

But most of my living area of the house was trying to vent through about 6' of ridge vent. I added the silver radiant barrier, and I think it improved some solar impact, but still not exhausting enough heat through that little slit. I talked to the roofing companies, and they claimed they successfully mixed the two despite the conventional wisdom of cross flow. I rolled the dice, figuring if it were to be an issue, I'd seal off the ridge vents somehow.

After they put the whirlybirds in, my house was immediately more comfortable. I went up a few times with incense in 100F afternoons to check for performance. I could find zero evidence of any cross flow following the smoke. Smoke below the level of the whirlybirds went out the whirlybirds (FAST) and smoke above the whirlybirds went up the ridge vent opening.

My understanding would be that hot air is rising with such force, it isn't going to somehow suck rising hot air from outside the attic, through the reverse direction of a ridge vent and up out the whirlybird. Maybe in the right conditions, with enough suction it would. They claim the powered vents can cause enough suction to do that... I dunno.

All I know is my attic went from melting your face like the ending of Raiders of the Lost Arc to being right at 10 degrees over outside temps even in full sun. The attic breathes now.

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Those whirly birds will be gone after the first hurricane.

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They're reinforced, braced, and 3rd-party certified on my new Fortified Roof.

We shall see.

The worst part of the $1500 was I ended up having an entire new roof put on in March of this year.

Electric fans/exhaust will ALWAYS burn up eventually and dont move air any better than turbines. Get good turbines with metal ball bearings so at a high spin rate they won't melt from the heat. A good roofer will measure the roof and place the correct number of turbines. It took 150 mph sustained winds and 190 mph wind gusts to pull one of my four turbines off of the base. Ridge vents are not useful for this climate but builders install them. If you have vented soffets then turbines will lower your attic by 30 to 40 degrees. Ridge vents won't matter. My dad was in mechanical refrigeration or as the old guys said, a sheet metal man.