Re: Roof vent

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 12:14:13 GMT, Roy Starrin <starrin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:01:30 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


Still intolerable in the attic, until the roof fan went in. Then 10
degrees cooler in the 2nd fllor and maybe 20 to 40 degrees cooler in
the attic.

... except maybe before 10AM because the fan takes care of that after the fan
goes on.
Please. What size attic, fan make and model, how controlled---timer?

I tried to buy the most expensive fan I could find, because I didn't
want to have to repair it, but in 1983 there was only about 10 dollars
difference in the ones I saw for sale. I bought it at Hechingers, a
Maryland area chain that went out of business maybe a decade ago. I
guess it would be categorized as a big box store. This was well
before Home Depot or Lowes.

I have a 700 square foot house, x 2 floors plus attic and basement.
The attic is about 7 feet 6 inches in the middle and tapers to zero at
the front and rear. The width of the house is 20 something. From
that I calculated the volume and it was smaller than the capacity of
any fan for sale, 20, 30% smaller.

I'm sure you can't get my model anymore, and the make is embossed on
the cover, which is on the roof. I have the manual, but the house is
such that I couldn't find it now. I don't think the brand matters.

Controlled by a thermostat that was included. With dark brown
shingles, on the sunniest days of the summer, went on around 10 in the
morning and off around 7PM (daylight saving time). On less sunny
days, or when the sun is lower in the sky (away from June 21), it goes
on later and off earlier.

I have a cutoff so it won't run when I want the heat. On Sunday, it
was a bit hot upstairs, and I turned off the cutoff and it started up,
around noon. The windows were all open Sunday night and it was cold
Monday(53?) so I turned the fan off Usually I don't do this on and
off bit. I turn it off in late fall when I get chilly with the
windows open and on in early spring when I turn the heat off and later
I'm too warm, and I don't give it any other thought. I don't take
hot showers and I don't cook a lot of steamy food** so there is no
need to turn it on to remove attic humidity.

**Even when I do boil water for spaghetti or something, after it
boils, I turn the electric burner down to about 6 out of "10" where it
just simmers.

Most of what I am reading in this group complains that they don't
last.

Well, it's 22 and half years, and I'm on my 4th or 5th motor. The
first one lasted about 7 years, and I sent to the fan maker for a
replacement motor. I was probably hot while I was waiting.

The seocnd motor lasted 2 or 3 years! So the next time I went to
Electric Motor Repair and bought a replacment there. 75 or 80
dollars, as much as the whole fan had been. But I don't care about
the cost. I love the fan.

That lasted 5 or 6 years.

So either my current motor has lasted 7 years or there was another
motor I don't recall. I also think one motor lasted 9 years, which
makes the one that only lasted 2 or 3 even stranger.

Changing the motor took about 30 minutes the first time, and maybe 15
minutes thereafter. (not counting turning off and on the breaker.)
It's done from inside the attic, often just after dawn, and requires
forcing the first of three brackets away from the motor. After that
it is easy. Putting it back is easy also, even the third bracket for
some reason.

Anyhow, I'm happy it started this week. I don't think that guarantees
it will last though the summer, but it might last.

The rain lands on the roof and splatters, some of it hitting the
screen of the fan. Some of that goes through the screen and lands on
the floor. But never enough to make the floor "wet". It's just the
attic, but if I kept stuff that could be damaged, I'd put a plastic
*** under it, with newspaper on top, to determine how far the
wetness extends. After that I'd get rid of the plastic and the
newsppaer and just not put anything that could be damaged in that
circle (maybe 3 feet.)

I figure the rain might be damaging the motors, so I looked into
putting additional screening where the current screen is, but that fan
lasted a 7 years or more, so I put that on the back burner.

I also think maybe I should oil the motor every eyar, and I don't
remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure if the motor had places where
it is to be oiled, I would notice and wouldn't be wondering. I figure
it doesn't have such places and uses oil-impregnated bearings. So I
think that means oiling it won't help.

Maybe I could find a motor of the same size with ball bearings?????

I hope I remember to ask next time.

I should save the old motor, so I don't have to extract the current
one before I go to the store. I think I did last time, but I didn't
label it adequately, so I don't know which motor it is, or where it
is.

But all in all replacing the motor is only one errand in town, during
working hours, and 70 dollars, and 15 minutes just after dawn. Every
5 years or so on average. That's really not much. In return, I get
to use my upstairs all summer with only a couple weeks of AC, if that,
in Baltimore, compared to loosing three months of use or using the AC
all summer.

What has been your experience in that regard.
TIA

.

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