Al Gore vent fans

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Never saw this before. House had 2 solar ventilators for the attic. The house already had soffit vents, gable vents, and ridge vents. The same company that installed his reverse-osmosis water filter for $7000 (after an in-home water test on a municipal water system) installed these at $450 each.

They were nice, however. They run on low speed constantly all year long.

[Buck Hartley, CMI]

Nice, I have not seen one yet.

[James H. Bushart]

According to a seminar I attended last month, these added vents are actually reducing the ventilation in the attic by taking the draft away from the soffit-to-ridge vent and replacing it with the mechanical vent-to-ridge vent thereby only exchanging the air in the peak of the attic instead of the whole attic.

The ridge vent will draw its air from the nearest source.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by jbushart

According to a seminar I attended last month, these added vents are actually reducing the ventilation in the attic by taking the draft away from the soffit-to-ridge vent and replacing it with the mechanical vent-to-ridge vent thereby only exchanging the air in the peak of the attic instead of the whole attic.

The ridge vent will draw its air from the nearest source.

Exactly, it is similar to adding gable vents to a home that is utilizing soffit and ridge vents. It comes in the gable vent and out the ridge vent bypassing the soffit vents and all the attic area in that direction.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by lkage

Exactly, it is similar to adding gable vents to a home that is utilizing soffit and ridge vents. It comes in the gable vent and out the ridge vent bypassing the soffit vents and all the attic area in that direction.

Are you writing this up as a defect?

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Are you writing this up as a defect?

No. Just sharing with you. I wish I could afford a couple of them.

Conventional electric fans can actually suck conditioned air out of the living space, but these weren't that powerful.

I read the posts about the possible negative consequences. However, that hasn't been proven to me. The fans rotate on a very low speed. I tend to think that this added low-speed draw of air through the structure is beneficial. The warm air is at the top of the attic anyway, so whether the make-up air comes from the soffit or ridge, is inconsequential as far as I'm concerned. It was a pretty large attic. I don't think the draw of these 2 low-speed fans would be enough to cause all the ridge vents to act as intakes.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

No. Just sharing with you. I wish I could afford a couple of them.

Conventional electric fans can actually suck conditioned air out of the living space, but these weren't that powerful.

I read the posts about the possible negative consequences. However, that hasn't been proven to me. The fans rotate on a very low speed. I tend to think that this added low-speed draw of air through the structure is beneficial. The warm air is at the top of the attic anyway, so whether the make-up air comes from the soffit or ridge, is inconsequential as far as I'm concerned. It was a pretty large attic. I don't think the draw of these 2 low-speed fans would be enough to cause all the ridge vents to act as intakes.

From what I have studied, air will take the path of least resistance like water and electricity.

Accordingly, an opening 4 feet away from the ridge vent, even if it was designed to draw air out, will serve as a source of air as it is drawn out of the ridge vent by wind blowing over the house.

Should we ignore this until it appears in a code book, or inform our buyer of the concept and allow him to draw his own conclusion?

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Should we ignore this until it appears in a code book...

I plan to. I'm certainly not going to advise someone to remove or plug their ridge vents if a power ventilator is present.

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by jbushart

According to a seminar I attended last month, these added vents are actually reducing the ventilation in the attic by taking the draft away from the soffit-to-ridge vent and replacing it with the mechanical vent-to-ridge vent thereby only exchanging the air in the peak of the attic instead of the whole attic.

The ridge vent will draw its air from the nearest source.

I agree.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

According to a seminar I attended last month, these added vents are actually reducing the ventilation in the attic by taking the draft away from the soffit-to-ridge vent and replacing it with the mechanical vent-to-ridge vent thereby only exchanging the air in the peak of the attic instead of the whole attic.

The ridge vent will draw its air from the nearest source.

Who did the seminar? What are their credentials? How did they make their conclusions--what testing did they perform? Where is the documentation?

Finally, if adding one or two power vents "actually reduces ventilation in the attic", how many power vents would you have to add to reduce ventilation to zero?

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

Who did the seminar? What are their credentials? How did they make their conclusions--what testing did they perform? Where is the documentation?

Finally, if adding one or two power vents "actually reduces ventilation in the attic", how many power vents would you have to add to reduce ventilation to zero?

These folks.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Are you writing this up as a defect?

Not unless I see detrimental effects like excessive moisture buildup or such but I do verbalize my thoughts on it to the client, if present.

[Kenneth E. Sitzes]

Jim that Air Vent seminar in St. Louis was good. Most of the home around here are not event right.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by ksitzes

Jim that Air Vent seminar in St. Louis was good. Most of the home around here are not event right.

You got that right, Ken. I went to the one in Springfield (got my buck knife, too) and it really was an info-packed, fast two-hours.

These guys sell all of the different systems....but take great pains to see that their dealers understand which ones do the best job, and why.

I think Ken would agree with me that anyone who can get a chance to see their seminar (Free...and worth 2 hours of NACHI/ASHI CEUs) should attend.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

These folks.

Still waiting for that scientific study publication link.