Installing attic fans

[Debbie]

Does anyone have any tips on installing a gabel attic fan? We're trying to help out our A/C unit and we thought an attic fan might do it. We just had a new roof put on since the hurricanes ripped through here (Central Florida) last year so we don't really want to cut a hole in the new roof. We want to go with a gable fan. We know where to get the fan, but we're not sure how to put it in the center of the gable on a double wide. There must be support beams there. We don't know if the attic is all open to move the air or not. We don't have any access to the attic to look and see what's up there. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

[Mark Bower]

Tricky part about adding an attic fan is that you probably have a stud right in the middle coming up to the peak. So it may have to be installed not quite center. On a standard mobile home 3/12 pitch roof, having enough room to install a power fan could be questionable.

Do you have any vents now? If so, maybe adding a gable vent on each end would help quite a bit.

Mark

[Debbie]

Thanks so much for your advice. We have enough room to put a gable fan up there. We have a pretty good pitch on our roof. But we're trying to figure out how to get around the studs that I'm sure are running right up the center of the gable area. I guess our next step is to put a hole in the ceiling to see what's there and hopefully put a gable fan and vents up there. We have 4 very small vents in the soffit part of the roof but I don't think they are functional. Most days there is no breeze here so we're thinking we need to pull the air through with a fan. I don't think just vents are going to do the trick. It has been so hot this summer that we have to do something drastic to cool this house off. And being in Florida it won't start to cool off until at least October, , , IF we're lucky. I think that's what we're going to have to do. If we can get past the fear of messing it up. Thanks again for your advice. I hope we can do it.

[Mark Bower]

Another idea is a whole-house fan. Basically it'll exchange the air in your home in about 20 minutes. Of course if the outside air is always humid, then it may not be the way to go.

Mark