Roof ventilators

[prodriver6 7]

Hi guys

Anyone has it at your house? Any reviews? Does it help with aitflow and extracting hot air?

https://solanatec.com/solar-roof-ventilator-fan/?gclid=CjwKCAjwjJmIBhA4EiwAQdCbxt3tqmZZkT0i1oUiYRsYXCFg5N3OVpyKFwZgLuYoZhkDTWYdoG1tXxoC4qoQAvD_BwE

[Topline 1]

Looks good but I wonder if it will lead to roof leaks....

[Kellhound 4]

I guess have to factor in the cleaning/maintenance cost of the solar panel as well. As Topline mentioned,  the joints around the ventilator could lead to leaks over time.

[DaddyJP 1]

Install on a flat roof would have leakage issue in due time. However if were to install on a roof with gradient, chances of leakage would reduce significantly. 

Googled for such ventilation fans in the net, found mixed reviews, regardless motorised or not. Some even outright said it is a scam as scientifically it does not work. 

Anyone has such installation on roof? Does it cool down the interior?

[Topline 1]

I'm also looking to cool the house down. Besides leakage, another concern i have with this system is that if i want to install solar panels in the future, this device may block the placement of the panels. Doesn't seem like many people have tried using this...

Another way i was thinking is to use a strong fan like a Vornado to circulate the air on the top floor room with an open window, which should blow the hot air out and with hot air rising from the ground floor through my stairwell, the temperature downstairs should be cooler. 

[snoozee 98]

in SG, the wind direction is usually North-South for most of the months with some changed to East-West for a few months. This is why property agents always tout N-S facing houses as good buy.

A well designed house should allow for cross ventilation such that air can flow in from the front of the house and exit from the rear (and vice versa) regardless of facing of the house. This is more so for inter-terrace as the house does not have any openings at the side as opposed to semi-d which has one side openable. That's why inter-terrace house sometimes has air-wells designed to bring the hot air up from the living room to the top. But if there is no way to bring the hot air out of the house, the air-well is redundant since the hot air would be just stuck in the top floor. While mechanical ventilation may help, it is always better to have cross-ventilation so that the air can be vented out naturally from front/back of the house.

One thing about cross ventilation is that you need to be able to let air enter and exit and the way to do this is not to have any obstructions for the air in the first place. But a lot of house owners would just build solid brick walls as boundary walls and this will just obstruct the air from moving in and out in the first storey. So without free flowing air, the hot air inside the house will just remain stuck there and heat up the house. While people can argue that the solid boundary walls are needed for privacy/security reasons, there are other ways to mitigate this like using fence and putting in plants to act as shield for prying eyes. Plants also have a cooling effect when wind blows through it as well. And don't expect a 1.8m high boundary wall to provide you that much security as it can be scaled over easily (remember the low wall for army SOC).

 

[prodriver6 7]

yes, i think chances of leak over time should be there...but the area is small and "defined", so shldnt be too hard to patch the leak.