Debbie C

Radiana, I live on Long Island's south shore and it gets very humid here during the summer months. My attic has gables at both ends and on the south end, we installed a large temperature-controlled attic exhaust fan. It's set to go on when it reaches 85 degrees up there. My house is average size (1500 sq.ft.) and I use window a/c units. When I don't need the a/c's, I pull down the attic stairs a bit and let the attic exhaust fan pull air through the whole house - surprisingly, it creates a nice breeze! I'm not familiar with solar fans, but our way was very low cost!! Hope this helps...

misspriss

I have heavy dark drapes in the three bedrooms on the south and a pull down shade on the one on the north side. I keep my kitchen at half the window. I try to keep as much of the sun light out as I can. I think you would be surprised at how the new energy efficient air conditioners are. Once the house is cooled down they don't take much. I live in 2,250 sq ft and total electric and my bill runs me on the average of $175.00.

Marysewfun

We also live in Oregon in a house built in 1890 and have a similar set up. Quite refreshing and not much problem.

Marysewfun

RuthiesRetreat3

I just went thru the 'solar' experience; the solar fans do the same thing as the turbines, but it runs on solar energy and the turbines depend on wind to turn them. Your best bet might be installing a whole-house fan that sucks air from the house up into the attic If you have an attic access trap door, these are especially useful for adding the fan since you don't have to cut any extra holes in your ceiling. I used to just lay a big box fan on it's side with a couple 1 x 2s to support it. During winter, just remove the 1 x 2s and close the trap door.

Country1

We had extra vents put in our attic. DH just walked in, he says they are called ridge vents ( If they are along the top edge of the roof line.) Top hat vents or cap vents they are close to the peak of the roof, they look like a top hat. Soffet vents are along behind the gutters. If it is available in your area, we got a free home assesment program, through our local utility company. They advised us on the types of vents we needed and paid for half of the price of them.
Good luck, hope this may have helped a little!
Penny

caspharm

Do you have any insulation in the attic? Are you trying to use the attic space, or just cool it to cool the house? We added more insulation (blown in kind) in our attic space and that helped considerably, especially since the installers put enough in to cover the ventilation ducts in the attic, which prevents the cooled air from being heated and the heated air from cooling down.

Also, there is now a "radiant shield" paint that can be painted on the inside of the roof that helps reflect the heat (I have seen mixed reviews on that).

Alondra

I had a company install a layer of insulated foil-like stuff on the floor of the attic, and my a/c bill is the lowest in the neighborhood. It gets sort of warm here in Texas, and lots of people are getting double-pane windows. Whoever suggested having all your window and door weatherstripping checked every so often was right! I had considered the insulation that sprays on under the roof, but someone told me that just holds heat IN the attic, which is not what you need. Ridge roof vents are also vital - as many as you can put in.

Radiana

Thank you all for some very good advice. I think I'll call our utility company and have them come out for an energy assessment and they could probably tell me if we have the vents needed in the attic.

mjhaess

I have ridge roof vents but it does nothing for the heat in my attic. It is close to 140 degrees up there. I had it checked out by a company that wanted to insulate it. 6,000 dollars for insulating the roof is too much as far as I am concerned. I put a box fan in the front window facing out and it seems to help a lot.

Baloonatic

I too have an attic fan, it was $250 installed. It needs an outlet in the attic to power it, and it turns on with a built-in programmable thermostat. My electric bill didn't show any significant increase when it was installed. It lasted about 8+ years before it needed replacing.
I also have ceiling fans in all the rooms, and use oscillating fans as needed too. Moving air feels cooler. I am fortunate in that I can open windows and doors and get pretty good cross-ventilation in my house...when there is a breeze.
If your house has adequate wall insulation, keeping the sun off the windows will help keep your rooms cooler (they have very low R-rating). I hung some Sunbrella triangular shade sails as well as roll-down shades that keep 90% of the sun's rays off of large areas of my house.
Once the sun gets in, you'll have to play catch-up. Then insulating inside window treatments will help.
I don't have them, but ridge vents help evacuate moist air from the attic and keep it cooler. But they must be balanced by adequate air intake from your eave vents. If your attic gets too hot it will shorten the life of your shingles, and if the ventilation is inadequate, moisture buildup can cause dangerous mold growth!