yellowblue Solar Fans

Bakeris Roofing has been installing solar fans since the 1990s, and solar fans/panels sure have come a long way since then. We’ve used some other products in the past and questioned their build quality (many used plastic parts). But now we’ve found a company called yellowblue that we feel does a very good job manufacturing solar fans. We actually got to meet the founder of yellowblue. They are based out of New Mexico, and they are a great option for your ventilation system.

There are some important perks of using a solar fan instead of just a roof vent. Roof vents provide what’s called static flow, where you aren’t physically pulling any air. It’s using the natural flow coming from the soffit through the vents (or ridge vent). With solar fans, you’re constantly pulling fresh air through the attic. You’re also pulling any moisture out of the attic and preventing heat buildup during the summer months. It’s just as important during the cold winter months, when you’ll also keep the insulation from getting damp (which reduces its R-value).

Yelllowblue fans are all quality built and entirely constructed out of steel. The panel itself can be placed right on top of the solar fan or it can be placed in front of the house with a cord leading to the fan. Either for cosmetic reasons or because you can’t get direct sunlight in the back, you have a couple of different configuration options to best suit your home. The fans can also have different wattages if you want to pull more air.

Going green is another great reason to have solar fans from yellowblue. Aside from that, they are also giving a 30% dollar-for-dollar tax credit to homeowners, which is a big savings. (It’s not the same as a deduction.) If you fill out the form and send it along with your tax return, you’ll get significant dollar-for-dollar tax savings, which makes solar fans a great choice.

What if it’s an overcast winter day and not 100% sunny outside? The fan still works. I’ve even seen it work with six inches of snow on top of the panel. The worse case scenario, they will stop working but still act as a regular vent. Of course, at nighttime when the sun goes down it will stop working. But the point is, a regular attic vent will take much longer to cool the area down. It takes approximately three hours after the sun goes down. Since you have a solar fan, the air has been pulled through the soffit and attic space continuously throughout the course of the day. The attic space should already be cool, even before nightfall.

It’s important for the fans to run during the wintertime so you’re pulling out any moisture. When you turn the heat on, warmth will rise through the ceiling, go into the insulation, and hit the air space. If it’s cold in your attic space and you have a lot of moisture, everything will freeze on the bottom plywood underneath the roof and drop back down into your attic. As a result, the insulation will get wet. If it’s bad enough, it will even cause stains in your ceiling. You can prevent that from happening by actively pulling air during the winter months.

Solar attic fans continuously exchange attic air to avoid heat and moisture buildup. At Bakeris Roofing, we think that yellowblue fans would be a great choice for your home.