Attic Fans and Winter Ice Dams

Winter is certainly a challenging time of year from severe storms, icy driving conditions, and even ice dams that cause a great deal of problems and costly repairs. Icicles that are hanging over the edges of your home’s roof are beautiful to look at in the wintertime, but when they begin to melt and water gets trapped behind the ice, then the water can leak into your home causing all sorts of problems. Ice dams truly create dangerous conditions and damages to your home that require costly repairs.

What Causes Ice Dams?

The three primary causes of ice dams are insufficient insulation in the attic, poor attic ventilation, and/or air leaks in the attic. If homeowners are wise enough to resolve these three issues long before the cold winter months set in then the probability of ice dams forming is little to none. Attic ventilation is a very important component of every home and is required by code, but it is important that you have the appropriate amount of attic ventilation in order to keep the attic cool but not too cold. Typically, when there is appropriate insulation in an attic and there are no air leaks, the amount of ventilation required to keep the attic cold enough is minimal.

The experts here at From the Ground Up Inspections have encountered many a homeowner who believes that inadequate attic ventilation is the ultimate cause of their troublesome ice dams, which leads them to attempt all kinds of absurd solutions for increasing air flow in their attics. With that said, we would advise homeowners to look into attic fans that are specifically made for attic ventilation and not try to implement their own do it yourself solution to the problem. In addition to these attic ventilation fans, there are also solar powered fans that are available on the market today that greatly contribute to proper ventilation in your home’s attic.

We strongly suggest, however, that, while attic fans will accomplish the task of sucking air out of your attic, they present yet another problem – replacement of the air into the attic. If you install attic fans and they remove the air out of the attic, then you have to ask yourself where the air will come from that should be replaced back into the attic. Many times this air will come from attic leaks and surely if your home has a problem with ice dams, then much of this replaced air flow will come from attic leaks.

When ice dams are present, it is critical that homeowners give primary attention to fixing their abundant air leaks and installing sufficient insulation into their attics. Once you are able to seal off all the leaks and have installed appropriate insulation you will find that you have resolved the issue of ice dams. Therefore, the professionals here at From the Ground Up Inspections do not think it necessary to purchase attic fans nor should you use existing attic fans, but rather have them removed and add proper ventilation to avoid any ongoing problems with ice dams and install appropriate insulation as well.

Though many homeowners have been led to believe that attic fans are an absolute plus, whether in the winter or summer months, they are truly not effective nor efficient at all and are not the best possible solution by any means. In the winter months, as we have suggested above, sealing off any leaks, installing adequate insulation and ensuring proper ventilation in your attic are a sure fire solution to all your ice dams and water leak problems this winter. When performing home inspections, we certainly give attention to the condition and overall presence of the attic and ensure that there are no air leaks and that proper ventilation and insulation are in place. As inspectors, we certainly know much about the topic at hand and are happy to share our knowledge and advice with all our clients, old and new.