Shouldn't an attic fan suck hot air OUT of the house? How do you get it to do that?
Answers:
It depends on the size of fan you have and how the air can flow through the house. A gable fan is usually between 1 ft. to 2 1/2 ft. in diameter and is only intended to draw air from the attic. A whole house fan is usually 3 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter and mounted in the floor of the attic and draws air from the house typically through a louvered device from the ceiling of the floor below and up through the house.
Other answers:
Yes. If it doesn't install it the other way.
Yes. If it doesn't install it the other way.
Yes. Turn it on.
Set it up with a straw.
no just out of the attic
It is only designed to suck heat out of the attic, which will help keep the house cooler. Be sure the fan is exhausting air and not injecting air into the attic. If it is blowing air into the attic change the wires (hot and neutral) this should reverse the motor.
You may be thinking of a whole house fan - they are very effective. They mount in the ceiling below the attic and pull air from the living space into the attic.
To be effective your attic must have adequately sized vents and/or non powered roof turbines.
These are powerful fans and work great when you slightly open a window on the SHADY side of the house and pull air through the house up into the attic where the overpressure created by the fan forces the air out of the building. A secondary benefit is this action removes super heated air from the attic.
An attic fan brings the cool air from outside in. If you have more than one floor in your house, close the windows on the floor you are not cooling and open the ones on the floor you want cool. Should bring the cool air in pretty quickly, that is providing the air outside is cooler than the inside.