
Solar Attic Fans
Serving the Boise Area
Need Help Staying Cool Through The Summer?
We Can Help.
Solar attic fans keep your attic cooler in the summer, letting your AC run less while keeping your home more comfortable.
or keep scrolling to learn more about solar attic fans
How Solar Attic Fans Work
Your attic will regularly reach temperatures above 160F on a sunny summer day in the Boise area, quickly overwhelming all but the best attic insulation and leaving your AC struggling to keep you comfortable.
Solar attic fans help your home by actively ventilating your attic, pulling hot air out of your attic and helping cooler outdoor air flow in from your attic’s intake ventilation at the soffits or gables.
A Solar Attic Fan Will Give You:
Cooler Summers
A solar attic fan pulls the hot air out of your attic before the heat can build up and pass into your home, leaving you more comfortable through the summer.
Lower AC Bills
When your attic stays cooler, less heat gets passed down into your home. This means your AC doesn’t have to run as much to keep you cool in the summer, and you save on your energy bills.
Roof Protection Year-Round
By stopping heat buildup in your attic, a solar attic fan cools down your roof in the summer and helps prevent ice damming in the winter, protecting your shingles throughout the year.
Why Choose Us For Your Solar Attic Fan Install?
See What Our Past Customers Have to Say
Want To Know How Solar Attic Fans Are Installed?
Here’s How We Install Your Solar Attic Fan
The Right Way to Install a Solar Attic Fan
The 7 Things That Matter Most When Installing a Solar Attic Fan
Anytime you’re putting a hole in your roof, you want to be sure you know what you’re doing and that you get it right the first time. These are the 7 things we focus on to protect your roof while giving you a solar attic fan that does its job.
1. Make Sure Your Roof & Attic Are a Good Fit
Before deciding to install a solar attic fan on your home, you need to make sure that your roof and your attic are both a good fit.
Here are the main three considerations we make when determining whether your home would benefit from a solar attic fan:
Sun Exposure
Since they’re powered by an integrated solar panel, solar attic fans need to be facing the sun to be effective. You’ll want to make sure one of your roof decks faces South or West and isn’t in the shade in the afternoon.
Attic Volume
Any active attic ventilation is most effective when there’s at least a few feet of space between your roof deck and the ceiling inside of your home. If you have a low-slope roof with very little attic volume then most of the heat being transferred to your ceiling is via radiation from the underside of the roof deck, which attic ventilation doesn’t do much to reduce.
Attic Air Sealing
Active attic ventilation depressurizes your attic via the Bernoulli effect. If your attic isn’t air sealed (most aren’t in homes built in the Boise area before 2006), this lower pressure will pull your indoor air up into your attic. While this will cool down your attic, it does so with the air you’re paying to keep cool with your AC.
The best solution to this is removing your old insulation and air sealing your attic floor, a more cost-effective option is air sealing your home from the interior (which doesn’t require insulation removal). Either way, you’ll want to make sure your home is properly air sealed before installing any active attic ventilation.

2. Pick The Right Fan
All solar attic fans are not created equal.
We did hands-on testing with 7 different solar attic fans and researched dozens more before deciding which we were going to offer to the homeowners we work with, and we’re confident that the one we’ve chosen is the best solar attic fan on the market.
We exclusively install solar attic fans manufactured in the US by Natural Light Energy Systems. Our preferred unit and the one we install most often is the 35 Watt, Ultra Low Profile model. Here’s what sets their fans apart:
Lifetime Warranty
Natural Light’s solar attic fans come with an industry-best lifetime warranty.
All Metal, Heavy-Duty Construction
Most other solar attic fans are either made of flimsy metal that can be bent by hand or have plastic parts to cut costs. Natural Light solar attic fans are made of commercial-grade aluminum, making them the most durable thing on your roof.
Curb Appeal
Let’s face it – most attic fans are ugly. Natural Light’s solar attic fans are low profile and one color, giving them a clean, inconspicuous appearance on your home.
Learn more about Natural Light Solar Attic Fans on their website here, or see what sets them apart from the competition here.

3. Pick the Right Spot On Your Roof
Once you’ve determined that your home would benefit from a solar attic fan, it’s time to decide where on your roof you’re going to put it. There are a few considerations that need to be made here:
- West or South Facing Roof Deck (for full afternoon sun exposure)
- Center of Attic Air Volume (to make sure your entire attic is being ventilated evenly)
- Between Trusses (to ensure maximum airflow)
- 1-2 Feet Down from Ridge of Roof (to maximize the distance from your attic’s intake vents and make sure the hottest air in your attic being pulled out)
- Aligned with Shingles to Allow Proper Overlay (to help ensure the fan never leaks and looks natural on the roof)

4. Cut The Right Size Hole
For your solar attic fan to function at its full capacity, the opening cut into your roof must match the size of the fan’s intake. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how often we find attic fans and roof vents installed onto holes that don’t match the size of the vent opening.
We use a template to mark the hole we’re going to cut into your roof to make sure we cut it’s big enough to maximize your solar attic fan’s airflow, but small enough to be completely covered by the fan’s flashing.

5. Lift Your Shingles to Overlap the Fan’s Flashing
Most attic fan installers will use a saw to cut the nails holding your roof’s shingles down to clear a path for the fan. This is the simplest way to install a fan and doesn’t require much attention to detail, but risks damaging your roof’s shingles and underlayment.
We have a lot of experience working on roofs (Jacob used to install them in a past life), so we prefer to do things the right way. We take time to gently lift your shingles and remove nails where we need to and re-install them when we’re done, leaving your roof in just as good of shape as it was when we arrived.
6. Secure & Seal the Fan
If you’re going to be installing anything on your roof, you want to make sure that it stays in place and never leaks. That’s why we secure your solar attic fan with specialized screws meant for this exact purpose and caulk each screwhead before sealing the fan to your roof with a lifetime rated sealant that’s guaranteed to stay watertight longer than your roof itself will last.


7. Block Nearby Exhaust Vents (within 6ft)
To make sure your entire attic is being ventilated, we block off any vents within 6 feet of your solar attic fan. This forces the fan to pull air from the intake vents at your roof’s soffit or gables instead of pulling from an adjacent passive exhaust vent.

Ready to Get Started?
You Have Questions?
We Have Answers
How do I know if a solar attic fan is right for my home?
A solar attic fan will benefit your home if you meet the following conditions:
Sun Exposure
Since they’re powered by an integrated solar panel, solar attic fans need to be facing the sun to be effective. You’ll want to make sure one of your roof decks faces South or West and isn’t in the shade in the afternoon.
Attic Volume
Any active attic ventilation is most effective when there’s at least a few feet of space between your roof deck and the ceiling inside of your home. If you have a low-slope roof with very little attic volume then most of the heat being transferred to your ceiling is via radiation from the underside of the roof deck, which attic ventilation doesn’t do much to reduce.
Attic Air Sealing
Active attic ventilation depressurizes your attic via the Bernoulli effect. If your attic isn’t air sealed (most aren’t in homes built in the Boise area before 2006), this lower pressure will pull your indoor air up into your attic. While this will cool down your attic, it does so with the air you’re paying to keep cool with your AC.
The best solution to this is removing your old insulation and air sealing your attic floor, a more cost-effective option is air sealing your home from the interior (which doesn’t require insulation removal). Either way, you’ll want to make sure your home is properly air sealed before installing any active attic ventilation.
Do solar attic fans qualify for any tax credits?
Yes, solar attic fans qualify for a 26% tax credit on the total cost of the fan, including install. This credit can be claimed regardless of whether or not you itemize your tax returns with IRS Form 5695, linked here. Enter the total cost of your solar attic fan on line 1 of this form and follow the instructions for the rest of the form.
WARNING: This tax credit applies only to your solar attic fan, not your entire insulation project. Contrary to what some insulation contractors claim, having a solar attic fan installed while insulating your home does not qualify the entire project cost for a 26% tax credit.
What type of solar attic fans do you install?
We only install solar attic fans manufactured by Natural Light Energy Systems.
Our preferred model is their 35W Ultra Low Profile Solar Attic Fan, but models with adjustable solar panels and gable-mounted models are available if they are the best option for your home. You can see all models of solar attic fans manufactured by Natural Light Energy Systems here
All solar attic fans we install come with a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer.
How many solar attic fans should I install on my home?
For the average home and the primary type of fan that we install, one solar attic fan can effectively ventilate 2400 square feet of attic area.
The number of attic fans required to keep your attic well ventilated ultimately depends on your home’s total attic air volume. Calculating this can be a bit complicated, so basing your ventilation requirements on your attic’s square footage is a reliable shortcut for the average home.
Do the solar attic fans you install have a warranty?
Yes, the solar attic fans we install come with a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. You can learn more on the manufacturer’s website, linked here.
How long does it take to install a solar attic fan?
It usually take us about one hour to install a solar attic fan.
Do you have to connect the attic fan to my home’s electrical system?
No, the solar attic fans we installed are completely self-contained and don’t require any additional electrical connections.
Should I have a temperature switch installed on my attic fan?
We don’t recommend having a temperature switch on your attic fan because this prevents it from running in the winter, when it could be working to prevent ice dams on your roof and moisture buildup in your attic.