Power Vents
Keeping your attic cool and comfortable may not be something you think much about. That’s particularly true if you only use your attic for storage and don’t spend any time up there. But allowing the temperature in your attic to climb uncontrollably will put a strain on your home cooling system and it can even lead to damage to the items stored up there.
It’s natural for your attic to get hot in the summer. After all, the sun is beating down directly on your roof and the attic lies just beneath that. And as we all know, heat rises, so the heat from the rest of your home is likely to push its way up into your attic. Fortunately, there is a quick and easy solution to this problem—installing a power vent that can move that warm air back outside.
Advantage Airtech Heating & Air Conditioning installs power vents in the homes of our Eastern Toronto area customers on a regular basis so we have a lot of experience with these systems. While a power vent is not as large, expensive or complicated as an entire home cooling system, it can have a huge impact on the environment in your home.
Power Vents Assist Existing Cooling Systems
There are several types of power vents available. While some are manually operated so that you can switch them on and off when you choose, the vast majority operate on a thermostat. You can either program them yourself or you can get one that has been preprogramed by the manufacturer. Either way, your power vent will sense the temperature of the air in your attic and switch itself on when that temperature climbs too high.
When this happens, power vents work to pull the heated air out of the attic, thereby lowering the temperature and releasing heat back into the outdoor air. This means that the heat from the attic will no longer be able to raise the temperature in the living space below, making it easier for your home cooling system to keep the rest of the house comfortable.
Heat and Humidity Control
Because humidity problems often develop in attics, particularly when high temperatures are already a problem, some power vents come equipped with humidistats so that they can monitor both the temperature and the humidity level in the attic. These products can cost a bit more, but if humidity is a problem for you in your attic, they are well worth the small additional investment.
Proper Sealing
You should also make sure that your attic is well insulated from the rest of the house and sealed off tightly. When your power vent is working and sucking all of the heated air out of the attic, it will often lower the pressure throughout the room. Without proper insulation, this vacuum created can cause air conditioned air from below to be drawn up into the attic. In effect, it makes the air conditioning unit below work harder to maintain a comfortable temperature in the rest of the house.
Power Vent Sizing
And of course you need to match the size of your power vent with the size of your attic. A unit that’s too small will work overtime and never really get the situation under control, while a unit that is too large is a wasted investment.
For more information about power vents or if you would like to schedule an appointment for a consultation with one of our experts, feel free to give Advantage Airtech a call today. We install and service power vents in homes all over the Greater Toronto area and would be glad to count yours among them.