My house is one of only a few 2-story homes on my street and most of the homes (1- and 2-story) have metal roof turbines similar to these:



When I first bought the house and had the roof inspected a second time, we noticed the turbines weren't spinning like everybody else's. My roofer oiled them up and they worked fine for a few months but we're back to the same problem again. Even today, when the roofers showed up, mine weren't spinning but my neighbor's were. They looked at them again and they're all rusted out on the inside (I believe they're original to the house). I was offered a really good price to replace the caps on them so they'll start spinning again properly.

What kinds of benefits should I be expecting after they're replaced today? I'm hoping it will help with airflow in the house, as well as reducing heat and moisture in the attic spaces. What else am I missing?

It'll be a few degrees cooler since air's actively being drawn out. Oiling them up is a good temporary fix, but since they're usually made wit sealed bearings, having them stop at all means that the bearings are toastola and the entire cap needs to be replaced.

The entire unit including base/flashing is only like $40 at Home Depot, so there's no reason not to replace it.

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 7/22/2011 11:58a).]

Super - that's about what my guy was charging plus a little more for install. I'm not climbing on my roof, it's way too steep.

I don't know the breakdown on pricing because he's also replacing/painting some rotted siding as well, but I'm paying $425 for all the work.

Good price. He probably gets them for about $25 at wholesale depending on size.

Keep in mind if you replace them, you do not have to replace the part attached to the roof. Often you can make the new turbine fit the existing piece if you get the right size. Makes the job easier.

Absolute - yep that's what they did today. I didn't realize it was so cheap otherwise I would've done it sooner.

How is this going to help airflow in the house?

It won't. These turbines exhaust hot air from the attic. That's a good thing and should help with reducing A/C costs.

When it comes time to replace your roof, you might want to consider having ridge vents put in instead of the turbines. Never need maitnenace and has a larger over all area for hot air to vent from the attic.