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uniqs
2548
Dodge
Premium Member
join:2002-11-27

Dodge

Premium Member

Attic fan noise

I have a weird issue that I can't seem to figure out. A fan in the attic sounds like a tractor idling. Got a ladder, crawled into the attic, since the fan is on therostat and humidistat turned it on manually and it sounds normal, just the sound of the motor and the air moving. Wife was on the 2nd floor and while I'm hearing normal sounds, she is still hearing rattling. Crawled back out, and started looking from the house side. When I touch the hallway chandelier the noise becomes a bit less, so the chandelier is rattling when the fan is on. My guess is that the fan is just shaking the roof and the vibration is going down the rafters and is shaking the 2nd floor ceiling.

All of this seemed to have started mid-fall when we had a screen installed over the fan opening to keep the stink bugs out. So I guess the question is, how do I get the fan to stop "vibrating" the house and why would the addition of the screen do this to begin with? The fan is only a few years old, and like I said, doesn't sound like the fan itself is rattling at all.

Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

1 recommendation

Msradell

Premium Member

Depending on what type of screen you installed it may be creating back pressure on the fan. Some fans are extremely sensitive to this and excessive back pressure makes them act like they are out of balance. The first thing I would do would be to remove the screen and see if that corrects the problem.

garys_2k
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI

garys_2k to Dodge

Premium Member

to Dodge
That, and tighten the fan's mount to the ceiling. If neither of those work, try to isolate the part of the fan that is vibrating and see if there's some way to tighten that up.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO

nunya to Dodge

MVM

to Dodge
I'd look at it a little differently. I look into the root problem: inadequate ventilation.
I'd focus on correcting that so the attic fan can be eliminated altogether.
Dodge
Premium Member
join:2002-11-27

Dodge

Premium Member

That would be the approach, but messing with the roof is not currently in the budget. Ultimately when we replace the roof I want to go with the full ridge went and get rid of the fan, but for right now I need to keep the fan.