Heat Build Up in Your Attic
Heat can build up in your attic can be costly and uncomfortable. In summer, your attic temperatures rise due to solar rays from the sun that beat down on your roof. That heat transfers into your attic. If the attic is not properly vented, the temperature can rise well over 100 degrees. Insulation between your attic floor and living spaces below will slow the heat from pushing down into living spaces but it will not block heat. Eventually, the heat will penetrate the insulation and impact living space temperatures below. This will cause you to run your air conditioner more often and for longer periods to achieve desired room temperatures – costing you money!
One of the most important things you can do to reduce heat build up in your attic is to insure you have proper cross ventilation. Cross ventilation occurs when you have sufficient intake and exhaust of outside air. In an attic, intake vents at the soffit (eaves) allow air to flow into your attic space displacing stagnant hot air. That hot air is pushed out through roof or ridge vents high on your roof. An attic fan can increase the rate of air refresh in your attic by pulling fresh air up into your attic and exhausting it outside at a much faster pace. An since attic fans are equipped with thermostats, when the temperature rises to a preset level, the fan will automatically activate.
Do You Have Proper Intake Vents? Are you sure?
None of this will work if you don’t have proper intake vents. I talk to so many homeowners that think that they have soffit vents at their eave. Often they will point to soffit screens or eave vents, that appear to be spaced across the soffit of the home. Many times, the wood sheathing behind these screens is not open to the attic, so there is no intake airflow.
Click here to watch a video of a project we did last summer in Naperville.
[youtube id=”r_g8rJhr8W4″ width=”100%” height=”400″]
Click here to learn more about attic ventilation.