Solar Attic Fans and Roof Maxx: Why a Louisiana Roof Needs Both

By Acadiana Roof Restoration LLC | Scott, LA | Veteran-Owned | Louisiana's Only 5-Star Roof Maxx Dealer | FORTIFIED Certified

A Roof Maxx treatment puts flexibility back into your shingles. That is what it is built to do, and it does it from the top down.

Here is the part most homeowners never think about. Your shingles are also being cooked from underneath, every summer afternoon, by the air trapped in your attic. If that heat never leaves, it keeps working against the treatment you just paid for. A solar attic fan is how you take that heat off the roof.

Where Louisiana Shingles Actually Lose Their Oil

Asphalt shingles stay flexible because of the oils in the asphalt. Heat and sun dry those oils out over time. Once they are gone, shingles turn brittle, crack, and start shedding granules, and a brittle roof is the one that lets go in a storm.

Most people picture the sun doing that damage from above. It does. But on a 95 degree Acadiana day, an attic without good ventilation can climb past 140 degrees, and that trapped heat bakes the underside of the roof deck and the shingles on top of it for hours after the sun goes down.

So a South Louisiana roof is drying out from both sides at once. Roof Maxx addresses the top side. The attic is the other side.

What a Solar Attic Fan Actually Does

A solar attic fan pulls hot air out of the attic and lets cooler outside air come in through your intake vents, usually at the soffits or eaves. Cool air in low, hot air out high. That is the whole job, and it is the job an overheated attic is not doing.

The 30 watt fan we install from The Attic Depot runs entirely on its own solar panel. There is no wiring into your electrical panel and no operating cost. It works hardest on the hottest, sunniest afternoons, which is exactly when your attic needs it.

One honest caution. A fan only works as well as the intake feeding it. If your soffits are blocked or your attic does not have enough intake, a fan can pull air from the wrong places. That is why we look at your intake and your existing vents before we recommend a fan, not after.

Built for Hurricane Country

Anything you add to a South Louisiana roof has to stay on it in a storm. This fan was tested to ASTM E 330 by PRI Construction Materials Technologies of Tampa, Florida, and held 300 pounds per square foot of negative pressure with no failure. It carries Florida Product Approval FL30888-R2 for model 30W1900, rated to a 150 pounds per square foot design pressure, and it comes with a lifetime warranty from The Attic Depot.

Approved for FORTIFIED Roofs

If your roof carries a FORTIFIED designation, or you plan to earn one, every vent on it matters. The FORTIFIED standard requires roof vents to pass TAS 100(A), the wind driven rain test. This fan carries a TAS 100(A) stamp, so it is an approved option on a FORTIFIED roof.

One point worth knowing: IBHS does not certify individual products. Your FORTIFIED evaluator reviews every vent on the roof as part of the designation. As an IBHS FORTIFIED Certified Contractor, we install with that review in mind.

How We Pair Them

Solar attic ventilation is available three ways. As an upgrade on our Roof Rescue package, built around a Roof Maxx treatment. As an upgrade on our FORTIFIED Shield replacement package, because the right time to get the attic right is while the roof is open. Or as a standalone install on a roof that does not need anything else yet.

If you are already booking a Roof Maxx treatment, adding the fan at the same time means one contractor, one inspection, and one crew on your roof. See how the fan works on our solar attic ventilation page, see the treatment itself on our Roof Maxx service page, and read more about attic heat in our guide to attic ventilation and roof heat in Louisiana.

Get a Free Attic Heat Assessment

We will check your intake, your existing vents, and your shingles, and tell you plainly whether a fan, a treatment, both, or neither makes sense for your roof. Lafayette 337-999-ROOF (337-999-7663). Baton Rouge 225-385-ROOF (225-385-7663).

Acadiana Roof Restoration LLC | Scott, LA | aroofrestore.com
FORTIFIED Certified | Louisiana's Only 5-Star Roof Maxx Dealer | Authorized Attic Depot Dealer | BBB A+ | Veteran-Owned | Serving Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and surrounding parishes