The Ener Cover Solution
Energy Loss through the Attic Fan
A WHOLE HOUSE ATTIC FAN THAT OPERATES WITH CEILING DRAFT SHUTTERS IS A DIRECT SOURCE OF ENERGY DOLLARS LOST IF THE DRAFT SHUTTERS ARE NOT INSULATED PROPERLY WHEN THE FAN IS NOT IN USE.
To explain - if you have an attic fan in your home, you probably use it during the spring and fall and possibly on cooler days and nights of summer. The rest of the heating and cooling season, you heat and cool your home with conventional equipment.
Look at the insulating properties of your home. Since the price of the energy dollar has skyrocketed, most have looked for ways to reduce the cost of heating and cooling. Money has been spent to insulate the attic, and in some cases, the floors.
Storm windows, storm doors and weather stripping have been added to seal the home.
Now, consider draft shutters. Draft shutters open in conjunction with the draft created when you start your attic fan. They close on a spring loaded pivot principle. When you start your fan, draft created by the fan overpowers the spring; when the fan is stopped, spring tension closes the shutters.
After a period of time, air moving through these shutters makes the seal less effective due to dust and lint accumulation. This increases the amount of direct air loss. Draft shutters are constructed of aluminum vanes only 1/32" thick. In essence, the attic area of your home may be insulated from 6" to 10" deep
in insulation except for the area of approximately 9 sq. feet that your fan and draft shutters occupy. This area has no insulation value, plus it serves as a direct air loss area. Since heat rises, during the heating season your draft shutters can act as a flue for direct heat escape. In most homes, the
attic fan is centrally located as well as the return air for the heating and cooling system. During cooling season, if the return air is located close enough, as in a hall with one directly above the other, there can exist situations where a portion of the return air is actually pulled from the attic -- creating a tremendous
energy dollar loss.
Energy Loss Prevented with the Ener Cover
Jim Edwards of Edwards Custom Iron Works, Inc. has developed and patented a removable insulated covering system!* This insulating cover is designed so that after initial installation, it can be installed or removed by the average person in one minute. This insulating cover is constructed of heavy walled durable aluminum extrusions
with a dual splinned vinyl seal operating on a separating roll lock hinge principle. The insulating core of the cover is
Styrofoam with a plastic sheathing. This cover properly installed will stop the greatest portion of your energy dollar loss through your fan opening when fan is not in use. This is accomplished
by stopping direct air loss and adding insulation value to the opening your draft shutters occupies.
Comparison - when you add an insulating cover to your draft shutters, you will be accomplishing much more than by adding a storm window of comparable size or a storm door.
An energy analysis conducted by Reddick Engineering Corporation revealed that anyone living in a home that has central heat and air plus an attic fan with draft shutters will save enough energy dollars in a 1 year period, less than 1 year in most cases, to compensate for the cost of an insulating cover.
EDWARDS CUSTOM IRON WORKS CAN PROVIDE A COVER MANUFACTURED FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS - TO
ACCOMMODATE ANY SHUTTER SIZE. THIS SYSTEM ALSO EASILY ADAPTS TO DISAPPEARING STAIRWAYS OR ANY OPENING IN YOUR CEILING.
