Whirlybird Vs Attic Fan
Air movement in the attic helps prevent moisture buildup on rafters and on the bottom of roofing materials.
Whirlybird vs attic fan. Solar fans don t require any electricity wind or attic pressure to spin. Roof vents vs whirly birds. When considering ventilation for your attic it is very important to take into account moisture as well as heat as mold growing inside your attic is much worse than mold growing on the roof shingle surface on the outside. The sun does that.
In summer air movement helps rid the attic space of. They make noise too. A solar fan doesn t rely on the wind and it actually has a more powerful motor in it so it keeps the temperature of your attic regulated regardless of wind conditions. Since your solar vent fan only moves 500 cfm a third to half that of a typical hardwired attic vent fan it probably won t move enough air to reverse the action of the ridge vent.
Full length ridge vent in combination with soffit vents is best. It is hard to find this kind of data from the manufacturers of the wind driven fans but there seems to be a consensus when surveying the different solar powered roof ventilation fan options that they are equivalent to 10 to 30 whirlybirds. Without ventilation unfinished attic spaces can end up having stagnant air. All things being equal wind driven turbine vents also known as a whirlybird roof vent do move more air than flat vents but only when the wind blows.
Although they don t work at night due to the lack of sunlight this is typically a non issue because they re most needed during the day when the sunrays are heating up your roof and attic. A largely arbitrary rule of thumb that s been adopted into most building codes calls for 1 sq. A solar fan is able to actively pull more air into your attic than a turbine can. Without any air movement temperatures in the attic soar in summer and plunge in winter.
Of vented area for every 300 sq. How much air must be moved. The average domestic whirlybird moves around 100 cbm h at around 12 km h wind speed. They re also quieter than whirlybirds and operate all year round.
It is a con to make people think the spinning action is like running a fan and mechanically drawing hot air out.