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“Why My Attic Fan Runs During Winter?”

Attic Fan Runs During Winter

Attic Humidity
Is My Thermostat Crazy? My Attic Fan Runs During Winter!

Attic Drying Fan Humidistat
Cost saving attic fan installations have a higher quality Jet Fan Attic Fan Drying Humidistat Save cost on attic fan installations by doing it yourself and by not having to pay for mold remediation from a damp attic.

Your attic fan runs during winter because you probably have a humidistat control on your attic fan so it runs when attic relative humidity is too high. The idea is for the fan to draw in dryer air from outside to get rid of water vapor that has risen up into the attic from the rooms through gaps in the vapor barrier or worse through improperly vented bath fans. Sometimes the problem is your furnace humidifier setting.

How do I Set the Humidifier?

Some humidifiers have a thermocouple that senses outside air temperature and changes the setting of your humidifier’s humidistat so you don’t have to. But, if you have to set it yourself, here is how to set it.

Jet Fan Recommends setting your furnace whole house humidifier humidistat by this table to avoid attic dampness from excess room humidity leaking into your attic and condensing on wood and metal conduit. Water-vapor is lighter-than-air and can leak through light fixtures and your wall’s top-plate penetrations. Insulation alone will not stop vapor. Vapor barriers help but usually have gaps. Your attic fan is running in the winter because there is excess attic vapor which is triggering the humdistat to turn on the fan to draw in dry air from outside through static vents in eaves or soffits, roof vents, or attic wall louvered vents.

Whole House Humidifier Humidistat Settings Which Will Help Keep Your Attic and Windows Dry.

Settings for Different Outside Air Temperatures

Above 40° F 40% – 50% Relative Humidity
32° F 30% – 40% Relative Humidity
20° F 20% – 30% Relative Humidity
10° F 10% – 20% Relative Humidity
0° F OFF

If you see condensation on your window glass your attic is probably already damp; especially if you have double pane glass.

Winter Attic Fan Running is Okay?

Your attic fan runs during winter regardless of the temperature to bring in dry outside air to replace damp attic air and prevent mold from starting in your attic. Your Jet Fan Attic Fan Humidistat should be set to 70 -75% relative humidity. Fan runs less with higher setting. If you hear your fan is running and running for long periods; here are some possible explanations:

What Causes Excess Attic humidity Anyway?

  1. House humidifier set too high.
  2. Bath fans blowing into attic instead of ducted out.
  3. Kitchen fan blowing into attic.
  4. Gaps in ceiling and vapor-barrier that allow vapor to rise into attic.
  5. Area water-table is high, and vapor is penetrating house through porous concrete foundation or crawl-space floor, rising into attic.
  6. Not enough attic intake venting to provide dry air from outside into attic through static vents in eave, roof and attic wall vents.
  7. Unusual atmospheric change has resulted in low temperature and high vapor in attic…fan will shut off when weather normalizes.

Get a Quiet Attic Fan: Jet Fan Attic Fans, The World’s Quietest Attic Fans for Homes where Quiet is Important.

Why burn $100 bills with your AC
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Crawl Spaces, Vapor and Ventilation

Hello Stephen,

Our Jet Fan Attic Fan is only intended for ventilating attics.
The air you want to be its best is the room air…the air you have to breathe day and night. I would recommend that the attic air be sealed off from the house air and that the crawl air also be separate. You can ventilate the crawl space with a crawl-space-fan and the attic with the Jet Fan Attic Fan. Both spaces need to be dry, but you do not want that air running through your house. Keep in mind that vapor barriers have to be on the predominantly warm side of the insulation in wall and ceilings and floors and only one side. Does your HVAC do more heating or cooling? If the answer is cooling then the a single vapor barrier should go toward the outside of the insulation. And the opposite if heating is more common then it should go on the inside heated side of the insulation. One exception is the vapor-barrier you have on the ground in the crawl which you have done correctly to stop vapor before it gets into the space. Additionally, make sure there’s enough static venting in your attic, so when you Jet Fan comes on whether by heat or humidity (with optional humidistat) the “make-up” air will come from outside not from unknown places around the house. Same with any fan for your crawl…it must have “make-up” air from outside not from inside the house.Thank you for your interest in the Jet Fan Attic Fans,Jeff Tideman, “Jet Fan Man”

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“Go ahead, let your attic fans suck”

If you’ve been reading about how attic fans supposedly suck air through your ceiling and all of your air-conditioning with it. Well here’s the truth. If you have a gap in your ceiling some air will go through it. So before you turn on your heater, your air-conditioner, and your humidifier and definitely before you add any more  insulation you should seal all those gaps up. In the mean time just be thankful for the extra oxygen you’ll be breathing.

What I’m not seeing anyone talk about is oxygen. These self-appointed experts who have never been in an attic, let alone 15,000 attics like I have, are obsessing on energy. So much so that life-giving oxygen is flatly ignored. Let’s be reasonable, you need fresh air or your going to die. Seal up your house and stay inside and you’ll be dead in less than a week. I sleep with my window open year-round so I won’t die.

If you read the instructions that come with all attic fans they say that you have to install intake vents to make sure that there is enough intake “make up” air coming in from the outside. Sadly, this just sounds boring and some installers skip this step. Intake vents whether in the soffits, gable walls, or roofs lower the suction in the attic so if  some air is leaking through it’ll only be a very little, just enough to keep us all alive. Open a window a little and you’ll know that the air coming into your house is not coming from the crawl space or the chimney.

Here’s a fact that all these self-appointed experts obviously have never considered; Fact: There is no shortage of energy in the universe. So while my days are numbered, energy will always be here until God rolls up our reality like a scroll. So to me the shortage is in the days of my life, I sleep with the window open so I will live longer and not be like the poor government workers working in government buildings so air-tight they literally get sick.

So get 5 to 10 degrees cooler upstairs by getting rid of the 150 degree attic air that heats your insulation, your rafters, your joists, your shingles and by later in the day backs up and starts to heat you!

Buy a Jet Fan Attic Fan (and follow the instructions so it won’t suck out your air conditioning)

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“Quality is NOT the Same as Price” – Quality vs Price – Attic Fan

 Quality verses Price – Attic Fan

Grant Troyer from Vancouver just bought a Jet Fan and proudly proclaims that “Quality is NOT the same as Price” …  and something about doing it right the first time!

Grant liked that it is American made which supports American workers and the fact that he won’t have to go up and mess with his attic fan anymore.

Jet Fan is a Higher Quality American-Made Roof-Top Fan Attic Fan

We can’t agree more: when you compare Quality verses Price the Jet Fan Attic Fan’s thick aluminum housing will last forever and never rust and the quiet and efficient motor will last ten years even if you never oil it and you can oil it if you want and it’s easily replaced. Shoot, if you actually oil it, the motor will last 30 years. The snap action thermostat positively turns the attic fan on and off at appropriate times and has a firestat with it so if there’s ever a fire in your house the fan will shut off when it senses 180 degrees temperature which would happen quickly in a fire situation. So save time and aggravation and labor costs for having to replace your cheap attic fan over and over.

Get an American Made Jet Fan Attic Fan; shipping out on Fridays, you could have the world’s best attic fan by next week!

Jet Fan is a Higher Quality American-Made Roof-Top Fan Attic Fan

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Save heat – Vapor Secretly Steals Your Precious Winter Warmth

Save Heat – Expert advice from Jet Fan Man:

Saving heat is usually suggested in simple ways: sealing around windows, doors, and the attic access; insulating the attic and foundation walls as possible.
Heat moves three ways: by conduction, convection and radiation. But there’s another way you are losing heat that contractors don’t like to talk about because it’s harder to fix. Water vapor.
It takes heat to make water evaporate and this latent heat is lost when vapor escapes. So by stopping the vapor, you keep the heat. So before you insulate your attic make sure gaps in your ceiling through light fixtures or around electircal conduit are sealed up first.
Vapor cannot be stopped by fiberglass bats or any kind of loose fill insulation. Insulation slows the movement of heat but does very little to slow water vapor that is actually lighter than air and is constantly pushing up rising into your attic through gaps and through the insulation.
Honestly the building industry has not taken this very seriously and it’s time they did. Vapor not only takes heat with it, but when it gets to the cold side of the insulation it can condense and cause mold and rot.
Seal first, then insulate.
For answers to your home questions call:
Jeff Tideman, “Jet Fan Man” for a FREE Consultation.
Phone 630-834-9165

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Attic Frost! Insulate or ventilate

Picture shows gap around electical conduit that allows lighter-than air water vapor to rise up into attic

Picture shows gap around electical conduit that allows lighter-than air water vapor to rise up into attic
Gaps in top-plate of home’s walls allow vapor into the attic from the home’s humidifiers, cooking showers, and even the dog breathing.

Gap around electrical conduit pipe is caulked
I used silicone caulk to stop vapor from rising up into the attic

Why is there attic frost on my roof wood?

Take a quick look in your attic and you may find attic frost on the wood of your roof, especially on the north side where it’s colder. Humidity indoors is essential in the winter. For example, your house will feel warmer when the humidity is higher. In addition, you may find relief from a dry scratchy throat or avoid a common cold by having the right amount of humidity in the air of your home. Even your wood floors and furniture need humidity to prevent cracking.
Unfortunately, there is a hidden danger when the humidity is too high. Humidity or invisible water in gas form is lighter than air so it’s always trying to rise and get into your attic space. That’s why I have been jumping up and down about sealing your ceiling. I don’t know if that’s why they call them ceilings but here is pictures of what I’m talking about.That’s where humidity can start to cause a problem and why attic ventilation is so important. During the winter, the attic should be cold and ventilated for several reasons. If your attic is warmer than outside air, ice dams and leaking may occur. In addition, dangerous and damaging mold may grow as a result of ice dams and leaks in the attic or water vapor condensing forming wetness and attic frost. This may eventually cause structural damage to your home’s framing and feed dangerous mold.

Tip: Don’t  insulate or add more insulation until you stop up these gaps. Always add more ventilation with insulation because now your attic will be colder that ever and the same amount of rising water-vapor that may not have been a problem before can now condense and form frost. Added ventilation will keep your attic dryer by letting vapor escape. Sealing gaps will stop the source of the attic vapor. Bath fans that blow into the attic should be vented out through the roof using 4 inch round insulated duct and a roof damper with a screen  and flashing so all that hot humid air goes up and out and away from your house. (Not out through the soffit vents because the hot humid air just rises back up into the attic even if through other vents).

Attic Fan with humidistat helps, but there’s other problems that need attention first. I sell humidistats for attic fans but, don’t run out and buy a humidistat (even from me) until you have talked to me first.

Jeff Tideman,“Jet Fan Man”. FREE Consultation.
Phone 630-834-9165 AtticFans.com

You can buy my humidistat, but only if you promise to read the instructions first: http://jetfanusa.com/pages/atticfanaccs.html

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21 Reasons Why the Jet Fan Attic Fan is Better

  1. The housing is aluminum so it will never rust.
  2. The metal is 3 times thicker so wind won’t blow it apart.
  3. All of the exposed bolts are stainless steel so they also will never rust.
  4. The screen is heaviest gauge expanded metal the stronger than any other attic fan screen
    while still allowing air to pass easily thru.
  5. The flashing or metal plate that fits into the roofs shingles in wider so even in strong
    wind water cannot be blown up under the flashing into your attic.
  6. The motor has a capacitor so it only uses extra power when the motor starts not the entire
    time the fan runs like cheap motors.
  7. The motor is American made and precision made so it’s quieter and doesn’t make the
    awful grinding /humming noise the cheap motors make and reverberates into your homes
    framing while you are trying to sleep. This is the main difference that makes the Jet Fan Attic Fan better
  8. The motor will last 10 years or more even if you never oil it.
  9. You can oil the motor if you want.
  10. The only fan made with an option for an automatic oiler that could extend motor life to
    30 years or more without maintenance.
  11. The motor can be replaced from inside or from the roof whichever is easier.
  12. The cable that goes from the motor to the thermostat is longer (24″) so you have more
    reach and more options when installing it and hooking up the power.
  13. The thermostat is a precision snap action automate switch that positively snaps to on and
    off positions in response to temperature in the attic. It doesn’t waver on and off and it’s
    more accurate so the installer can set it and you can forget about it.
  14. The higher quality available Jet Fan humidistat is optional so you don’t have to buy it if
    your attic doesn’t need it. Fans will run on for days during high humidity outside.
  15. The thermostat has a fire stat with it so if there’s ever a fire in your house the fan won’t
    come on and make matters worse like the cheap fans would.
  16. The motors twice as efficient as other motors and reliably moves more air per watt than
    any other fan. Uses ½ the energy of some other attic fans.
  17. The air flow of the fan has been tested by an independent laboratory so the stated air
    flows of the Jet Fans are known and not just wishful thinking or exaggerated claims.
  18. The pro-rated written warranty insures that you’ll get your money’s worth on a fan that
    will still be there, and still be worth installing a new motor in, 50 years from now.
  19. When you buy a Jet Fan you’re keeping Americans working because it’s 100% American
  20. You can prime and paint the aluminum housing and because it’s aluminum it won’t start
    rusting and make the paint flake off.
  21. The fans propeller type blade is made of heavier metal including a cast hub, heavy steel
    will roots and thick aluminum wings so it will not crack like the cheap fans that have a
    blade stamped out of a single piece of thin metal. Jet Fan Attic Fan is better because the moving parts are stronger so they don’t break.

AtticFans.com