Hello, An attic fan has died (moment of silence). The device that is currently installed is a thermostat-driven electric exhaust fan. I'm looking to determine whether the fan even needs to be replaced or to simply leave the opening as-is as a passive vent (it looks like the motor cannot be removed without going on the rooftop, which may not be an option). The details are:
- The house is in Western NY.
- Insulation was professionally installed in June into the attic.
- Last summer, the temps climbed into the high 80's-90's for maybe a week or two with the attic reaching ~110-120 for maybe a handful of days.
- The winters can be cold for a few months.
- There appears to be adequate soffit vents to the attic area.
I'd like to determine the need before the brutally cold weather hits, but I am looking for more specific information related to temperature, humidity, etc. With the additional insulation and the short time within the house, I do not have current visual gauges regarding previous moisture. There does appear to have been previous moisture issues but the insulation that was in the house had been improperly installed.
My questions are:
- I understand from other posts that temperatures that reach ~120 or higher can be the beginning of the damage-inducing range. Is this over generally considered the norm in hot climates (i.e., 120 all summer), or an "if it ever reaches, assume the worst" guideline?
- Is the rule-of-thumb in the NE to get a humidistat? I was thinking of buying a bare-bones humidistat and just recording the values over a few weeks, but have not found a guideline (i.e., if it is consistently above x%). Or, would visual inspection be enough (i.e., if you see moisture, get a humidistat, if not you should be fine)?
Am I overanalyzing this to to death? Probably. I apologize.
TIA, Dave