Does an exhaust fan in the attic of a home, help the central air to function better?

Question

This home is beautiful, in great shape, supposedly the central is working fine. There is a giant exhaust fan in the attic, it's not working. I've been told that the fan working would cool the house off tremendously. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

Answer 1

Yes. A whole house fan draws the warmer air (which rises) out the attic, and draws cooler air into its place.



An attic fan is a very smart investment. By the way, an attic fan can often keep a house fairly cool without even running the air conditioner.

Answer 2

Mine does. It has a thermostat that automatically turns the fan on when the temp in the attic reaches 90 degrees. Since my AC is set to go on when the temp in the house goes over 80 degrees you would think that the attic fan would be of no help. Wrong! The attic sometimes reaches 90 degrees by 11 AM and the house doesn't get up the 80 degrees until 1-2 PM. The attic fan moves the hot air out of the attic and keeps the AC from turning on until 3-4 PM. The attic fan costs 2 cents an hour to operate in my area and the AC is 80 cents. My neighbor has exactly the same model home that I do without an attic fan. Her AC is set to exactly the same temp and turns on around noon. She is running her air a 4-5 hours longer a day than I do. The fan in the attic is not only a great savings on the electric bill, but also really does keep the house cooler in my experience.

Answer 3

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RE:

Does an exhaust fan in the attic of a home, help the central air to function better?

This home is beautiful, in great shape, supposedly the central is working fine. There is a giant exhaust fan in the attic, it's not working. I've been told that the fan working would cool the house off tremendously. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

Answer 4

they say it does because heat rises and there is very little ventilation in your attic, so all that hot air up there seeps through the cracks and crevices and not to mention the ducts of the central air, so the exhaust fan pulls all the hot air up and out and your a/c wont be turning on as often since there wont be as much hot air to try and cool off, i am a female and i own serveal houses and do alot of the work myself or with the help of my dads and friends, i recently had my house rewired so that i could seperate the 2 houses since i rent oneout and that way i am not stuck with huge electric bills anymore, one other thing, are your walls and your attic insulated? that is also a big help in reducing high electric bills, as well as caulking around window and door frames. so i would say yes spend the money to get the fan fixed, probably all t needs is a new motor not too costly, and then try it out, if nothing else and it doesnt prove to be energy efficient look at it this way, the equity in your house goes up for things like that...

Answer 5

WOW WOW WOW Hopefully the fan you refer to is mounted in the ceiling parallel to the floor and not simply a fan mounted entirely in the attic at a gable vent in the attic. It is amazing how few people understand the purpose of an "attic" fan. These large units are normally mounted in the ceiling and vent into the attic and are used to pull cooler air from a slightly open window/door on the shady side of your house thru your house and up into your attic and outside. They are NOT designed/intended to be used in conjunction with your air conditioning.



You will be amazed how much airflow and comfort you can get from the "attic fan" by fine tuning the opening and closing of windows/doors.



The cheapest investment you can make in heating and cooling is attic insulation. If the ceiling immediately below the attic is not at room temperature during BOTH the heating and cooling seasons - you need more attic insulation. Use unfaced roll insulation and DO NOT block your soffit vents - they are essential to prevent humidity build-up in your attic.

Answer 6

tremendously, maybe not. But it does help by moving air in the attic, not allowing it to be stagnant and get even hotter.



Attics can get over 120 degrees. With a fan, maybe 100 maybe lower depending on the outside air temperature, , and that's less of a load for the upper cieling in the house to have to cool.

Answer 7

I don't know if u mean an attic fan or whole house fan because there's a big diff. between the 2 an attic fan moves air around in the attic and is intented to do that on the other hand an whole house fan u can see because it typically mounts in the hallway,though they are great and work the downside to one of these is it isn't made to work with todays energy eff. systems they take out so much air it makes the press. in your house negative and anytime u get neg. air it's bad u let in germs,dirt,etc. not to mention the impact it has on your mechanical systems it'll void all warranties because they need positive air at all times.So Always get a professional opinion.Trust me on this.Good Luck

Answer 8

The bathroom fan functions only to remove moist air from the enclosed area of the bathroom and will have no effect on your centrail air system. Keep the bathroom door closed during and after a shower, especially if the fan is on. To make the A/C more efficient, try running your ceiling fans at high speed. This, in effect, will force the cooled air to circulate more in the home. Good luck.

Answer 9

Yes, this is true an attic fan will remove all the heat out of your attic thus keeping the rest of your house cooler. also , most attic fans have a t-stat so you can adjust the temp at which time the fan will turn on & off.

Answer 10

Yes, they do. Heat rises, so all that hot air is getting trapped in your attic, making your central air work harder. Get the exhaust fan fixed and your central air will work more efficiently, AND you will save money on your electric bill.

Answer 11

attic fans remove hot air from the attic that can penetrate to the house, thus heating it up and making your a/c work harder/longer to cool the house. it's a great idea if the roof is not insulated which most older houses are not. so, yes, they are a good idea. totally worth getting it fixed.

Answer 12

It keeps the attic cooler, hence keeping more heat out of the lower part of the house.



They really do work.

Answer 13

It is a iffy question. If yoou have a leaky ceiling or leaks in the walls such as around vents or elec. plugs your airconditioning will also be sucked out by the attic fan

Answer 14

You are pulling your cool air into the attic, overworking your A/C

It may be advantageous to run the attic fan at night, with an open window, if the night is cool.

Answer 15

anytime u can remove heat from the living area or its surrounding area u help to cool the house hence makes the ac unit work less.......not only with that it will prolong the life of ur shingles....



if it has a thermostat, make sure its set for 130 deg or lower to come on.....



lic. gen. contractor

Answer 16

The exaust fan should have adjustable speed / flow so as to "tune"

your system for the best balance

Answer 17

YES