Most people know that heat rises. Most people also know that at the top of your home are usually asphalt shingles on top of wood - both of which absorb heat in your attic. And when your attic is hot, it comes down through your chimney, your walls, and into your living spaces. There are two ways to keep your attic cool - vents and fans. Ventilation is a passive process that causes cooler air to come into your attic and keep the hot air out. The image below can show you better than I can tell you. If you notice, not only is your attic a full 25 degrees cooler, your living space is actually 15 degrees cooler - naturally! And every degree you can cool naturally is one more degree that you don't have to cool with electricity.
Now, an attic fan is a more heavy-duty solution. As the name implies, it's a fan on the top of your house, that makes the attic even cooler still. As you can see, with a fan, it's even cooler than venting alone, and keeps your home cooler constantly.
And if you're worried about the energy draw of the attic fan on your home, there's a great solution: solar attic fans! With one of those in your home, you're not drawing any energy - in fact, you can sometimes give a little energy back to the grid - just like a regular solar panel on your roof. You're using the sun to cool your home, in a great "take that" to Nature!
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