Animals Damage Fans
Did your roof-mounted attic fan stop working? If it did, animals like squirrels and raccoons may be to blame.
Sure it may have just gotten old, but we find many cases where animals are the cause.
What often happens is that animals get past the screens built into attic fans and mess up the balance of the blades. They do this in one of two ways:
1) The animals’ movement in and out bend the blades.
Once the blades are out of round, they strike the housing of the fan and get stuck. These fans generally have small clearance parameters. As the fan tries to operate, it keeps sending electricity but the blades don’t spin. The motors overheat and stop working for good as a result.
2) Nesting material is put in place at times when the fan is off for prolonged periods of time. Once conditions trigger the fan to come on, the blades don’t spin because of nesting material in the way.
Again, blades not being able to spin damages the attic fan.
This happens less frequently than bent blades, but to the right you see a good picture of an instance where squirrels loaded the fan with nesting material.
Either way, fans that don’t spin freely cause those fans to stop working.
If your roof-mounted, electric vent is not working, we recommend getting it checked out to see if animals are the issue.
Squirrels at Attic Fan Vents
How can squirrels get in through attic fans? They chew right through the screening.
As we’ve covered before in our blogs, squirrels have the ability to chew through many different materials. Wood, plastic, and aluminum are no problem! Only heavier gauges of steel stop squirrels.
Most fan manufacturers consider animals with screening of some type. Yet, most fans don’t have screens with the ability to stop a determined squirrel.
For example, here is a screen shot of a manufacturer pointing out the highlights of its fan.
As you see in point 3, their screen is specifically made of plastic so that it won’t corrode, rust, vibrate, or make noise.
This manufacturer found a plastic screen to be preferred for many reasons. It will not, however, keep out squirrels.
This is why attic fans, when they are targeted, don’t put up much resistance to squirrels.
Example of Squirrels in Attic Through Fan
Ryan was recently at a job where he found squirrels getting into an attic through a roof-mounted electric fan.
He made the following video which shows how he approaches removing the squirrels.
He also discusses why getting squirrels out and getting the fan operational again is a good thing. Enjoy:
As Ryan pointed out, keeping those fans functioning by keeping animals out pays off for a number of reasons.
The best way to keep animals out of attic fans and other vents on the roof is to cover them with squirrel-proof materials.
Cages of heavy gauge, galvanized steel wire keep them out. Screening also works.
There are pre-manufactured solutions and most nuisance animal removal companies also fabricate covers.
An ounce of prevention is a positive, especially if the squirrels have already identified your fan as an easy way inside.
Squirrel Trapping & Squirrel Prevention | Akron, Canton, Kent
If squirrels have gotten in your attic vent and you need them out, give Frontline Animal Removal a call.
We have the ability to remove squirrels and prevent future incursions.
Attic vents are good but very problematic spots for squirrels and other nuisance animals.
We’ll help you come up with a solution.
