Home Improvement Ideas from GA/Carolina Solar Lighting by The Sunshine Boys

What Your Attic May Be Telling You:
I Need To Vent!

Solar Star® Keeps Homes Operating at Maximum Efficiency All Year Long
High electric bills got you down? Maybe you should be looking up.

If you're like most homeowners, the attic is the one area of your home you don't give much thought to. You pretty much have a "don't ask, don't tell" relationship with whatever goes on up there.

But, what you don't know about your attic could be costing you big bucks in increased heating and cooling costs, not to mention potential damage to critical roof structures.

Here's the deal: Research shows that air flowing throughout a house produces moisture that typically accumulates in the attic. While many homes have small vents installed in the roof or attic area, most are ineffective in generating enough air movement to expel damaging heat and moisture, and maintain a steady flow of beneficial circulation.

Unlike typical, non-motorized roof ventilators, Solar Star is solar powered - operating completely on energy from sun-light that is continuously collected on the rooftop and converted to electrical power by a state-of-the-art photovoltaic panel.

The sleek, jet-black, contemporary design is far more attractive on your roof than the spinning metal contraptions used in many homes for decades. It also does not require breezesor natural convection to function. There's nothing to plug in.Nothing to wire. No electricians to call. No permits to pull. More importantly, because it is powered by sunlight, it costs nothing to operate.

Why it Matters: Southern California Edison states that without a well-ventilated attic, much of your heating and cooling costs are wasted. Temperatures within an attic with inadequate ventilation can reach as high as 140 degrees. Heat trapped in the attic space radiates into the living space even hours after the sun has set, causing your AC to run overtime. Proper ventilation can reduce attic temperatures by 30 degrees and reduce the cooling load for the entire home.

According to engineers at Texas A&M University, heat movement through the ceiling may account for up to 30 percent of the total cooling cost for a home. Therefore, keeping temperatures down overhead makes your living space a lot more livable.

And there's more. According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy, the current trend toward sealing houses to reduce air and moisture infiltration makes them more energy efficient and less costly to own. However, it also makes them "tight" and poorly ventilated, creating many indoor air quality problems such as mold, persistent and objectionable odors and what is commonly known as "sick building syndrome."

Furthermore, a well-ventilated attic actually prolongs the life of your roof. And if you think your electricity bills had a sobering effect, try the sticker shock from the price of a new roof!