Newsletters
Organize & Clean
AC & Heaters
How To
Natural Solutions

4 Ideas for Insulating the Attic Fan

Regina Yunghans
Regina Yunghans
Regina is an architect who lives with her husband and children in Lawrence, KS. As a LEED Accredited Professional and longtime contributor to Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn, her focus is on healthy, sustainable living through design.
updated May 7, 2019
Save
pinterest
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
SavePin It
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

If you have an attic fan in your home, it may help you save on your cooling costs in the summer. But in the long, cold days of winter, the opening can be a major source of heat loss from the house. Here are a few ideas for keeping the warm air from slipping right through:

Follow Topics for more like this

Follow for more stories like this

Since warm air rises, an uninuslated attic fan opening draws heated air right up and out of your home’s living spaces. Insulating or blocking the air’s flow can help prevent heat loss. Fortunately, there are some off-the-shelf products out there (and a few DIY’s) that can help:

  • Install a piece of rigid foam board insulation on the underside of the opening (attaching with strong magnetic or Velcro strips.
  • Install a box made of foam board insulation over the top of the attic fan (if your attic access door is large enough to get the box up there!).
  • If your attic access is too small to accommodate moving a large, rigid box into the attic, roll up a piece of flexible insulation, take it into the attic, and unroll it over the top of the attic fan.

While the first option is quite easy, the others will require a little elbow grease. The latter two even require a trip into the attic at the beginning and end of each heating season. But if you imagine the attic fan opening as a giant hole in the ceiling, sucking warm air from your home all winter, the task seems well worth it!

Do you have another method for insulating your attic fan against heat loss in the winter? Please share below!

Image: as linked above

 

How-To Toolkits