[Maker]

I have temperature sensors in my attic. In mornings, the attic is 1 to 2 degrees warmer than outside. In summer, it gets to around 10 to 20 degrees warmer in late afternoon of a sunny day. After sunset, into the evening, it cools rapidly.
There are ridge vents and several round vents. No powered vents.

Interesting observation. The attic is often cooler than outside for most of the morning. If there was a solar vent, then it would draw in hotter air.

A thermal imaging camera also shows no hot spots in any interior wall or ceiling. My insulation is good.

If you want to spend money, I would use the money towards improving the insulation, and installing additional passive vents. I think that would be the better return on investment.

Also, I think the power company offers free energy audits. An expert might look at your house and offer good advice.

[Sully2023]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

We are getting a new roof next month and the roofing contractor also installs solar roof vents for $650 each. I am undecided if I want to have one installed (our house is small enough so one vent should be adequate). I understand that the vent will help reduce the hot air in the attic when needed most during periods of full sun, but am not sure it would be worth the investment. We have never had one before and have been just fine without one. On the other hand, would the savings on our Air Conditioning related electric bill be reduced enough so the vent would pay for itself over a reasonable period of time? Any feedback from fellow Villagers who have first hand experience with these vents would be greatly appreciated.

I owned a home for 20 years in Virginia, installed electric roof vents where the motor burned out every three years. Then I tried solar vents and they died a year after installation. When the roof needed replaced I was told by 5 roofers - do not install roof fans! The fans countered the actions to remove the heat from the attic space as it is designed to flow air from your side vents to the roofline. When five roofers told me this, I did not install another one. Btw you did not mention if your attic has good insulation. No more fans for me. I added extra insulation. Good luck!

[HiHoSteveO]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

We are getting a new roof next month and the roofing contractor also installs solar roof vents for $650 each. I am undecided if I want to have one installed (our house is small enough so one vent should be adequate). I understand that the vent will help reduce the hot air in the attic when needed most during periods of full sun, but am not sure it would be worth the investment. We have never had one before and have been just fine without one. On the other hand, would the savings on our Air Conditioning related electric bill be reduced enough so the vent would pay for itself over a reasonable period of time? Any feedback from fellow Villagers who have first hand experience with these vents would be greatly appreciated.

I am in the "No" group.
Besides (as already mentioned) the expense, potential water leaks, not knowing if it's actually running or not, consider the air that is being sucked from the attic.
Not a lot, but the air being sucked out is not replaced with only outside air, but also the conditioned air from inside the house. Comes from air leaking into the attic from the fans, ceiling vents, lights, etc.
It could actually increase your air conditioning load.
If you must, I would think a static vent or two might be more practical, but even then the house was engineered to have the attic air flow that it already has.

[Switter]

Originally Posted by Heytubes

Having been in the business in the past, I’d contact The Solar Guys as they know which wattage and placement is best. 20, 30 or 50 watts. Also, with getting two, tell them a discount is in order. Also, don’t forget about the paperwork for the Federal Solar Tax credit. One other note: make sure they are installed at the top peak of the roof and at least ten feet away from any ridge vents as that will create negative air flow if next to the ridge vent. With the solar attic fans there is a definite reduction in attic temperature as well as extending the life of the shingles. That’s why you often hear people complain their 25 year shingles only last 15 to 20 years, inadequate attic ventilation. Also, attics should have ventilation year round to prevent moisture in the attic. Don’t worry about having to inspect them as most have a 25 year warranty and unlike some of these “experts” on this post, these units if installed correctly will not leak and are silent.

Unfortunately, nowadays it almost doesn't matter how long shingles last because your insurance company is going to require you to replace them at least every 20 years. From here on out it's a cost that will likely just be negotiated at point of sale.

[jrref]

What you need to realize is there are a few people with engineering or technical backgrounds here on Talk of the Villages. Most people can give you a positive or negative experience using a contractor or making an addition to your home but when it comes to HVAC in your home, measurements become significant. With proper static venting in your attic, yes, that should be enough but how do you know you have adequate ventilation? A roofer looks up and says yes or no? Even an inspector might not really know. That said, unless you have someone who knows what they are doing to go into your attic to measure the insulation, see that all the soffit vents are open, measure the static ventilation, take temperature reading, etc, you don't really kow. Your need for active ventilation can also depend on how you home is positioned, i.e., North, South, East, West facing. At the end of the day the only way for you to know if you need more ventilation without doing all this technical testing is to put a couple of temperature sensors in the attic and measure the trends, see if you have storage melting over your garage and or go up in your attic, if you can, on a hot day and see how it is. All you need is to go into the storage space over your garage to get a gauge if its superheating or not. In my case I put some temperature sensors in my attic measured the trends on hot days then decided to add Solar vents installed by the Solar Guys and then measured after the installation and my attic never goes above 10 degrees over the outside temperature where as before it was super heating at 150+ degrees. Also, you can't go by past eperience of those with solar vents since the newer technology vents are very powerful and have a long guarantee. The only problem is verifying that they are working but most of the time you can see them from your attic storage space. Also a big issue no one is bringing up is fan noise. When you get a large enough fan going in your attic you Will hear it in you living space. So you want to get fans that will add active ventilation but don't expect to be evacuating all the hot air with a very large fan. Just too noisey. Moisture in the attic is also something you want to keep at a minimum and active ventilation will also help.

Finally, adding active ventilation is not an investment, you add it if you need it to make your home more comfortable and prevent your attic from superheating in our Florida environment.

I hope this information helps put thing in perspective when considering adding active attic ventilation.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by jrref

What you need to realize is there are a few people with engineering or technical backgrounds here on Talk of the Villages. Most people can give you a positive or negative experience using a contractor or making an addition to your home but when it comes to HVAC in your home, measurements become significant. With proper static venting in your attic, yes, that should be enough but how do you know you have adequate ventilation? A roofer looks up and says yes or no? Even an inspector might not really know. That said, unless you have someone who knows what they are doing to go into your attic to measure the insulation, see that all the soffit vents are open, measure the static ventilation, take temperature reading, etc, you don't really kow. Your need for active ventillation can also depend on how you home is positioned, i.e., North, South, East, West facing. At the end of the day the only way for you to know if you need more ventilation without doing all this technical testing is to put a couple of temperature sensors in the attic and measure the trends, see if you have storage melting over your garage and or go up in your attic, if you can, on a hot day and see how it is. All you need is to go into the storage space over your garage to get a gauge if its superheating or not. In my case I put some temperature sensors in my attic measured the trends on hot days then decided to add Solar vents installed by the Solar Guys and then measured after the installation and my attic never goes above 10 degrees over the outside temperature where as before it was super heating at 150+ degrees. Also, you can't go by past eperience of those with solar vents since the newer technology vents are very powerful and have a long guarantee. The only problem is verifying that they are working but most of the time you can see them from your attic storage space. Also a big issue no one is bringing up is fan noise. When you get a large enough fan going in your attic you Will hear it in you living space. So you want to get fans that will add active ventilation but don't expect to be evacuating all the hot air with a very large fan. Just too noisey. Moisture in the attic is also something you want to keep at a minimum and active ventilation will also help.

Finally, adding active ventilation is not an investment, you add it if you need it to make your home more comfortable and prevent your attic from superheating in our Florida environment.

I hope this information helps put thing in perspective when considering adding active attic ventilation.

Thank you,

One can buy remote blue tooth temp sensors, we use Govee at the moment, for inside and outside temps. We have insulation stacked high, and that certainly helps, but also makes any wiring changes very difficult well as can block the soffit intakes if just blown in.

Of course adding lots of passive vents is also an answer, but balance the number of holes in the roof versus a forced air system. . .

So the answer is always: your current system works for you, until it doesn't. .

[airdote22]

Take the credit anyway, you deserve it more than the feds.

[retiredguy123]

One surefire way to decrease your electric bill is to add more insulation to your attic above the living space. Installing a solar fan is questionable at best.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Let's see ...

Your house was probably designed with proper ventilation, per the International Building Code.

If your house is over 1000' sq. ft., the flim flam installers usually recommend 2 units. $1300 + tax.

You'll need ARC approval to install them.

Warm/hot air RISES ... it's not like the warm air in your home is falling back into your living space.

If you install Solar powered and the specific product is eligible, you'll get a 30% Tax Credit. Cost is now down to around $1100.

Arguable, you *may* save as much as $5-$6/month on your AC Electric bill. However, there's not a whit of real life evidence to support that conclusion.

You have added 2 "roof openings" to your brand new roof ... two more place for leaks to occur.

.... in 12 - 15 years, you *may* be back to even, if you didn't get any roof leaks.

I'd report whoever recommended them, to Crime Against Seniors.

I would NOT cut holes in a roof unless I thoroughly researched the subject. Present and past TOTV threads are THE good place to start.

[Annie66]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Let's see ...

Your house was probably designed with proper ventilation, per the International Building Code.

If your house is over 1000' sq. ft., the flim flam installers usually recommend 2 units. $1300 + tax.

You'll need ARC approval to install them.

Warm/hot air RISES ... it's not like the warm air in your home is falling back into your living space.

If you install Solar powered and the specific product is eligible, you'll get a 30% Tax Credit. Cost is now down to around $1100.

Arguable, you *may* save as much as $5-$6/month on your AC Electric bill. However, there's not a whit of real life evidence to support that conclusion.

You have added 2 "roof openings" to your brand new roof ... two more place for leaks to occur.

.... in 12 - 15 years, you *may* be back to even, if you didn't get any roof leaks.

I'd report whoever recommended them, to Crime Against Seniors.

I believe the organization you are mentioning is called "Senior versus Crime"

[C. C. Rider]

Interesting thread. Last summer, I installed a battery-operated remote heat sensor in my attic. I installed it about 6 feet above the attic floor joists. My attic isn't floored. The highest point in my attic is about 12 feet above the attic joists.

The readings of the remote sensor are transmitted to the receiver unit inside my house. I recorded many of the high attic temperatures last summer. It was quite common to have high temps of 135 degrees during the mid to late afternoon. I had a few readings of over 140 degrees. The highest I ever detected was 143 degrees.

I'm considering adding some additional attic vents but hesitate to mess with my roof shingles which are about 9 years old. I don't know how flexible these shingles are and don't want to cause a roof leak. Has anyone here added roof vents on a roof that is of similar age?