Roof Ventilation with Turbine Vents

I need to replace my roof wind turbine as it is noisy and wobbling because of wear. I tried one from Home Depot and that one let in the rain so returned it to Home Depot. It is 12 inches in diameter. Where can I get one that is guranteed not to leak and can be returned if it does. I made sure the one from Home Depot was level but still leaked. The original one I had went thru high winds and hurricanes and never leaked. Any info you can give me would be appreciated.
Thank you
Howard Jolliffe

Howard,

I love your comment! Your are not the only person upset with the quality of the goods at the big-box stores!

Read all of my Turbine-Vent columns. You will see a photo supplied by one of the top manufacturers in the nation. Their name escapes me while I am typing this, sorry!

I have a turbine vent in my attic - tonight it is making a terrible noise & spinning out of control. It is incredibly windy but I never noticed this before during high winds. Is it possible that is broken?

Roe,
I think it just needs some oil on the bearing.

My neighbor's turbine vent has begun to squeak horribly. The question of what type of oil (or grease?) to use to fix the offending vent has come up a couple of times. Assuming that a simple oiling will fix it... what should we use? WD40 or something more aggressive?

I have two turbine vents. One stopped working last winter and led to frost build up in the attic and moisture spots on my plaster ceiling. I replaced the vent last fall and I still have frost and moisture in the attic. The new turbine is not spinning as well as the older one that is still working. Is there a trick to installing it or any other suggestions? I am getting my roof replaced this spring and am consider the regular roof vents so as to not have this problem in the future but would like to keep the turbines is they do the best job.

Mike,
Sewing machine oil works as well as WD-40.

Phil,
It is easy to install new ones. Go watch my Bath Exhaust Fan Flashing Video.

I have two externally mounted wind turbines. They are old but in good condition. They are stainless steel. One barley turns and the other not at all. When I hold them up by the nut on the top they spin real good. It seems that there is a washer or bearing on that shaft that has split off. Is there a way to repair this problem? I had a water leak into the immobile one during a strong monsoon storm last summer and am sure it leaked only because it was not turning.

James,

It sounds like a worn bearing. You need to get a new part or new turbines.

I want to install my own wind turbine on the roof of my home. It has a peak roof. How do I determine where to install the turbines, and how many should I put in. The dimintions of the house 30 X 60. Thank you. Rafael

I had 4 turbines installed on my roof to replace turtle vents and loved them until a hail storm totaled my room and turbines. I live in Oklahoma, a state that averages 400 hail storms a year. Should I go with a roof ridge vent or is there a turbine that is hail resistant? Thanks

I am sceptical about the performance of turbine/whirlybird style vents.
the wind will force its way down the vent, not up as claimed. also all the different sites that claim 350 cfm for the 12" or so much for the 15" are just copying each other. I doubt there is any real data to support these claims. I think it is similar to the bubbles in alka selzer which are caused by the same type acids that are making you feel bad, that is why the directions tell you to wait until the bubbles stop before drinking it. The acid absorbtion properties are large enough to absorb the bubbles and have some left to absorp your over acid as well. the bubbles just make it look like a powerful remedy.

Hi,
We have a metal shed-style barn roof and would like to retrofit the barn with a wind turbine. However, we can't cut / probably should not cut into the roof. Can we use this in the eaves somehow? Probably a stupid question, but the only thing I can figure out at this stage...

We just installed a turbine vent in a new hay shed we built. The only time it turns is when there's a 50 mile an hour wind gust. Did we do something wrong? We just had a storm come through and because it wasn't turning, our new hay shed got drenched inside as well as the hay. Can you help?

I've noticed our two wind turbines aren't spinning this summer since we removed the plastic bags we always cover them with during the winter months.
Based on reading the other comments, should I just assume they have probably worn out and need to be replaced or climb up there to see if I can see anything else to explain why they aren't moving?
(I'm 61 and my husband is older, so climbing up and then concluding they need to be replaced is an undesirable risk if it is fairly likely they have given their 15-20 years of excellent service and need to be replaced.) Please advise. Thanks, Rita

Have effective are whole house fans on flat roof homes?

I have two power roof vents that are no longer working and were wired incorrectly. I would like to remove them and replace them with two turbine vents. What is the best way to do so without too much damage to my roof

We are planning to install two wind turbines to ventilate the attic and I'm wondering why they can't operate as energy-producing turbines as well?

I have a roof turbine of which the head is broken. The turbine is 14" in diameter. In checking with Home Depot/Menards/Lowes, they only have 12" heads. Can you suggest where I might purchase a 14" head. I await your reply.

Thank you

i would like to know how to install a turbine the right way and what do i use as a guage to see where to install iton the roof?

My question was asked by someone else but i did not see an answer for it. my wind turbine is no longer spinning. should it be replaced or is there a way to fix it. does it just need to be greased?

How can I ventilate a church steeple ?

The steeple currently has metal cladding attached. The steeple sits atop a standing seam metal roof and the roof is installed atop T&G decking which is exposed to the interior of the church.

HOW MANY TURBINES SHOULD YOU HAVE ON YOUR ROOF? IS THERE A FORMULA FOR SQUARE FOOTAGE?

After 2 months in a row of $300+ electric Bill. I have decided to take drastic measures to reduce my energy costs. My attic is probably 140-150 degrees and I think this might be causing the higher utility bills. I have called around get some price quotes to have some turbine vents installed, but the prices seem a little high. They are telling me it will cost $300 each, or $250 each if I do 4 of them. Does this sound reasonable? The house is only 3 years old, 2050 sqft, single story with a shingle roof. How much should installation cost? My wife has forbid me from doing the install myself, so I have to find a roofer to get it done.

I just got my house roofed and had them install two whirlybird type turbines. I am not sure what brand they are but I think the bos actually said "Whirly Bird" on it. From the ground it appears they are both installed close to level though one may lean slightly. I went up in the attic when it was raining hard because I was concerned their open design would let rain into my attic. What I noticed was that very small droplets could be seen on the inside of the tubes connected to the turbines and occaisionally I could feel a very small droplet fall down on me. Is this normal? I don't believe the amount of water I saw and felt would pose any kind of threat and if it hits my insulation (I have no plywood floor under them) I think it would evaporate before building up and/or seeping to my ceiling. Should I be concerned? It was raining hard but I can't help but wonder if larger drops might be able to get in if the rain gets heavier or if the turnbines are not spinning. Also is it normal to hear a very soft squeak when the turbine spins? One of my squeaks slightly but you cannot hear it from inside the house or outside the house....you can only hear it in the attic. Also can these things survive hurricane force winds? Finally will these two turbines really make a bid difference on my electric bill?

Foster,
The small leaks are not normal. I have never had any leaks in mine, even in severe storms. My guess is that in a severe hurricane all bets are off. I can see how 150 mph winds could rip one completely off a roof.

I have recently had a whirlybird installed in my garage that has a very steep roof. Pretty close to 45 degrees. I was expecting the installer to cut the whole in the roof and put in a tube and mount the whirlybird on the tube so the unit is sitting horizontal. Instead they attached it so it sits at close to 45 degrees. The unit spins but I am wondering if that is a correct installation. Will this installation make it more prone to leaks or less effective in venting?

I am thinking of purchasing a home that has a "walk around attic" that we would use only for storage. It is at least 80 degrees up there and the turbines are not twirling at all. (The neighbors were turning fine). The turbines looked fairly new and the owner wasn't there to inquire. My question is "shouldn't the turbines be working? Thank you.

I have a small problem i want to vent my roof without having to cut into it because i have aluminum roofing... is there a method that i can use to vent perhaps out of the side of the house or something like this... im afriad that by cutting into my roof i might see leaking problems.

I recently installed two 12" turbines in place of two regular roof vents. I know have two turbines and two regular roof vents on the home. My question is can I combine these two types of vents? My neighbour who was a former roofer says I should not as the effect of the turbine will be lost because air is still escaping from the regular vents. Any truth or information you can provide?

Where can i find instructions on calculating the amount of attic/roof ventillation(in cfm)I need for my house? Then how do I select the size (sq. in) of inlet flow gable vents, and number of 12" or 14" wind turbines for exhaust?

I need to replace a pair of 40+ year old attic wind turbine vents. How do I decide between 12" or 14" inch? Does this refer to the openining into the attic or the diameter of he "whirlybird"? It sounds like the 14" moves more air out the attic and would be more efficient and, therefore, worth the extra cost of purchase? Is this correct? Thanks in advance for your response.

I found your page while researching powered attic fans. It seems those are bad b/c of the negative pressure they produce pulling stuff from the house space. How are these any different, except that they are no powered? Why would they not do the same thing? Finally - is there a pitch roof limit to using these? My roof is fairly steep!
thanks

I've read lot's of your comments on turbines. Thanks. I live in a very dry climate, Phoenix. I have been putting resin bags (purchased at Home Deport) over my turbines in the Fall and Winter months for years to conserve attic heat. I have never seen moisture accumulations. Is it always a bad idea, even in the desert southwest to cover turbines in the winter?

Is it advisable to cover turbine vents during the winter to keep hot air from escaping? Thank you.

When I had my house built I had 14 inch internal wind turbines put on, I now am having to replace the heads, is it ok to use the external heads for the base that was orginally put on with the internal turbine?

Stasi,

Type in the words "turbine vents winter" in the search box at the top right side of this page. Tim has several columns regarding whether to cover the vents in winter.

we had a roof wind turbine ventilator installed about 10 years ago... it features about a 6" flexible hose that vents into our upper hall ceiliing; and has an ajustible open/close vent...
we leave the vent open almost all year long to benefit from the removal of warm air in the summer and more humid air in the winter...
we still seem to have a lot of moisture in the air as our windows get reasonably wet in the winter and with the really cold weather will frost and/or freeze over...
we recently purchased a dehumidifier
to lessen the air moisture...
do you have any other suggestions??
thanks - ed

How many soffitt vents are needed per 12" diameter roof mounted turbines? We have 6 roof mounted turbines and only 8, 6" by 12" vents. It would seem that we need more and before installing more, I thought I would ask the experts. This is our first winter with these installed and our heating usage has skyrocketed. Thanks so much for you help.

I am about to install turbine vents on my roof even though I will be replacing the shingles in about 5 years. If these vents are supposed to be so good, why are all the comments I've read in this blog asking how to fix a problem with one? Wondering if I should consider returning them before installation.

I currently have a ranch style home built in 1978. It has 2 turbin vents on the rooftop as well as gable vents in each end. However there were never any soffit vents installed. Should I put soffit vents in? I cover the turbin vents in the winter and I have not had any moisture build up. should I keep them uncovered?

Hello -

I live in Minnesota, we have experienced a more frigid and snowfilled year then a usual winter. My attic has developed frost on the wood. To this point I have not narrowed down the exact problem. I believe my soffits are in good working order unblocked. I think the insulation level is okay (had some blown in a couple years ago).

To this point I haven't properly inspected the kitchen or bathroom vent for an air leak (they are vented/go all the way up to the rooftop).

We run a small humidifier in both of our children's rooms at night... could that be a contributing factor?

If all the above are fine, could I blame the new ridge vent that was installed with a roof (this past summer)? A few weeks ago I went on my room to clean off some of the snow near the gutters, I noticed there was a fairly good level of snow and ice build up on and around my ridge vent. Is it possible for it to get iced over if its really cold (we have had a few -15 to -20 days/nights this winter?

Previously I had turbine vents (never had a problem) but was advised that ridge vent was the way to go.

When its all said and done, I will probally have an expert look at it, if the vent was the problem, could I get a pair of turbines installed and keep both (not remove the ridge vent)?

Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for your help!

I need a 12 inch Turbine Vent could you please let me know if you have one by E-Mail. Thanks George

Take this advise seriously. Both Commercial and Residential need proper attic venting!

Pacific Northwest Inspections Group,LLC - 425.608.9553
www.PNWIG.com

I'm purchasing a house with no attic. Previous owner says during certain times of the year he would have a condensation problem where mold would grow on the front porch ceilng and a moldy wet spot on the shingkes. How canw e vent the roof properly w/o an attic? It already has ridge vents and soffit vents.
Mel

My roofer wants to increase my turbines from 4 to 8. Is there a standard for how many turbines I need?

I encourage you to do some research ( including some independant of roof vent manufacturers) but you will find these vents(the aluminum spinning vents) have generally less than one square foot of roof opening and do not induce air movement while spinning. Larger, less conspicuous static vents are more efficient at moving air.

I am not suggesting the manufacturers are misleading everyone but simply allowing us to carry on with the wrong idea of how they work.

If the vent is powered by a motor then it would be different.

As far as static operation, the most efficient is simply a hole in the roof. (But that would not be practicle). The vent is merely a cover to protect the hole while allowing the air to pass.. and this comes at a cost of some restriction and therefor lost of dynamic energy in the gas.

The only purpose of the rotation is mainly to help keep the open vent area clear of debris. Also there may be a benefit that these rotary vents tend to be higher.

But dont take my word for it ...check with a mechanical engineer specialised in gas dynamics.

Bottom line.. you can't expect those fins to both turn the vent and to draw air out imultaneously.. it defies the laws of physics. (I know it looks like it is doing that, but it cannot)

I have Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineer, and although not a practising engineer, I studed gas fluidynamics gas dynamica and this is really simple first year stuff. Basically look up how a turbine blade functions.


Cheers

Insects keep getting into my attic the turbine vents. How can I screen these up to keep the bugs out?

Is is easy for someone who is not a professional roofer to replace a roof turbine?

I have received bids for a new roof. I currently have 3 whirly birds. One well known roofer is suggestiong that I add a ridge cap as well obvisouly for extra $$$. Are both really necessary?

Can I have the turbine vents installed on a new construction that have ridge vents already installed?

Do whirlybirds require any screen or mesh inside the vent to keep insects from gaining access when the vents are not spinning - not often but...? My prior electric roof fans had that and my newly installed whirlybirds do not. Just want to know if I need to further protect the interior of my home.

I need 9 X 610dia. turbine vents in Welkom, South Africa. Do you know manufacturers in South Africa or outlett stores of yours?

Thanks

Daan Malan

I have a new roof on a low pitched ranch style home. I currently have four 4' off peak vents. I put a black shingle on the house. Can I install turbines as an assist to the other vents or would I lose the vacuum or pressure to draw through the turbines?

wind turbine vents

can they be put on a roof that has only slight pitch?

In reading the how to on turbine attic vents, the video with it is installation of ceramic floor tile???? Where is video on turbine vents?

Tim
I wish I would have found your article several years ago when I was franticly looking for a solution to my ventilation problems evidenced by ice dams forming on my winter roof as soon as any small amount of snow covered my ridge vent. The turbines give me several snow-inches of leeway before I have to get up on my roof to remove the white stuff plus they sort of keep snow away from themselves by their spinning action. Alas, I get very little wind because I live in the woods but they still work fantastic compared to my ridge vent. Here's a clue: when I cut the 14" hole in my roof for the first turbine, I was met by a blast of hot air in my face. Plugging up my ridge vent so the turbines didn't just suck air in from there was more work than installing the turbines. Even though they are on the back just over the peak and barely visible from the front of the house, I'm going to spray paint them with acrylic paint to match my roof just before I reshingle. NO hardware store or box store stocks turbines in my area so I had to special order them. Also, I called my shingle manufacturer who also makes both ridge vents and turbines, and told them of my problems with ice dams due to snow covering up the ridge vent and asked for their advice and after being put on hold, the person came back and told me that she had talked to an engineer and their advice was that I should stay with the ridge vent because it was their best vent. Unbelievable! So it felt risky to go with the turbines but I couldn't be more pleased after five years. Now I only get ice dams when the weather is especially conducive to them or when I let the snow get so deep that it covers the 14" vents. Thanks again for a great article that I can point people to.
Doug

I am fixing to have my roof replaced. It's a 33 year old house and originally had NO attic ventilation of any kind. I moved in 13 years ago and installed 2 wind driven turbines.

My question is now that I'm getting the roof replaced, would it be a good idea to have ridge ventilation added (no cost) in addition to the turbines, to replace the turbines or just stay with the turbines by themselves?

Mark
I plugged my ridge vent when I added my turbines because I was under the impression that if I had both the ridge and the soffits vented, the turbines would suck air from the easiest possible source which, due to their proximity, would always be the ridge vent. In other words, the suction of the turbines and the ridge vents wouldn't add to each other, they would subtract from each other.

Our turbine had stopped spinning so we replaced it with a model that features the external bracing. It would not spin on its own. There was sufficient wind blowing that it should have made it spun as our neighbors turbines were spinning just fine. It spins freely when I spin it by hand. We have a lower pitch roof than our neighbors and some trees around us that have grown over the years. Do you think the roof pitch and tree height are contributors? I only replaced the turbine portion and not the base as I am not very handy working with roofing shingles.

Is it my imagination, or does my turbine spin faster when the attic is hotter.

I have a wind turbine installed near the roof ridge. Should the turbine be higher than the ridge ?
Thanks.

You should go with Lomanco brand turbines. They have 12" And 14" ones that have a lifetime warranty on them. I had one on my attic for 20 years. The bearing decided to finally go out one day, so i simply mailed in the top of the turbine as per the warranty instructions, and about 2 weeks later, i had a brand new one delivered to me by Fedex. No questions asked. It is a wonderful company that stands by their products, and best of all, they are made in the USA.
www.lomanco.com

Doesn't this work against you in the winter?

i have a 1678 sq ft house with 6 14 inch turbines. could i cover 3 of these turbines to aleviate a cold daft through my drop down ladder.

I currently have two roof turbines, but they barely turn. Either they need oil or new bearings. I just had more insulation blown in. The installer suggested I should put in soffit vents. So I really need them if I have turbines? (I also have gable vents at each end of the attic)

Thanks,
Mark

I have three vent turbines on my
roof. What are the pro's and con's
of covering the turbines during the
winter month's?