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There are still people that believe that vented crawl spaces in the humid southeast are still a good idea, does that make it so because they believe it to be true?
I found the most effective was a ridge vent I had installed when I had the house re-roofed. It made a noticeable difference over the turbine vents that were removed as part of the re-roof job.
There are still people that believe that vented crawl spaces in the humid southeast are still a good idea, does that make it so because they believe it to be true?
Mike
Ive personally put enough attic fans in and have followed up with the customer to KNOW that they are of very good benefit ; and THAT is the truth . How many have you put in personally , how many installations have you conducted tests on personally, and please list your educational achievements in HVAC (Heating/Ventilating/Air-Conditioning) ? Even commonsense tells you that if you reduce the attic temperature from 130 f. in the middle of summer to that of 90 F. same as the outside temp.. that there will be the benefits i mentioned in this thread. I dont wish to argue with you as your personal experience is very very limited , so I shall end this with : END.
I found the most effective was a ridge vent I had installed when I had the house re-roofed. It made a noticeable difference over the turbine vents that were removed as part of the re-roof job.
Are you speaking of the type that runs the full length of the peak, underneath the shingles?
I installed that type, several years ago, when I built on a sun/family room on the south side of our house. It had a vaulted ceiling, and that style of venting seemed most practical. It has worked GREAT, and it really wasn't very expensive.
Not many attics have windows in them...unless its a converted room up there. And even so, the attic will always be hotter than the outside air is .
That was my point. we have an attic fan. its set to go at like 110F. in the summer we open the windows ....so it has a nice path to suck in "cold" outside air.
maybe you can help me3 figure out what I should be doing....we are in Northern NJ so see some single digit days, and some 90+ degree days.
We have a bit of a confused attic.
It has a full walk up staircase going up. There is very old, 1950, probably very poor insulation underneath the attic floors... No clue of the R value. On the attic rafters is R11 and walls R13. Furthermore the entire HVAC system is there, both heat and A/C. It is insulated, but as far as I can tell the R value is only 6 (on the flex ducts).
I understand in the traditional sense, one would want to essentially separate the attic from the main living floor as much as possible by piling up insulation on the attic floor/main floor celiing. However since our HVAC system is up there, with pretty low insulation, what is the best thing to do???
Also, in the winter I covered up the hole for the attic fan with plastic. Not sure if that is the right thing to do or not.
That was my point. we have an attic fan. its set to go at like 110F. in the summer we open the windows ....so it has a nice path to suck in "cold" outside air.
maybe you can help me3 figure out what I should be doing....we are in Northern NJ so see some single digit days, and some 90+ degree days.
We have a bit of a confused attic.
It has a full walk up staircase going up. There is very old, 1950, probably very poor insulation underneath the attic floors... No clue of the R value. On the attic rafters is R11 and walls R13. Furthermore the entire HVAC system is there, both heat and A/C. It is insulated, but as far as I can tell the R value is only 6 (on the flex ducts).
I understand in the traditional sense, one would want to essentially separate the attic from the main living floor as much as possible by piling up insulation on the attic floor/main floor celiing. However since our HVAC system is up there, with pretty low insulation, what is the best thing to do???
Also, in the winter I covered up the hole for the attic fan with plastic. Not sure if that is the right thing to do or not.
I would NOT do that. There is moisture that needs to escape.
Yeah I am trying to figure that out. I just did it very recently. It "seems" very dry up there. I do not know if the furnace burning has anything to do with that, or not... It is not direct vent, so it's burning room air, beyond that probably pulling in outside air through cracks around the old windows.
Yeah I am trying to figure that out. I just did it very recently. It "seems" very dry up there. I do not know if the furnace burning has anything to do with that, or not... It is not direct vent, so it's burning room air, beyond that probably pulling in outside air through cracks around the old windows.
I'm a northern climate guy (used to live in Minnesota). The temperature of your attic, if you have proper insulation, should not really matter - provided you can avoid extreme heat. It's the attic insulation that will keep your house warm or cool, not the vents.
Also, unless you plug up the eave vents, you're really not keeping the cold/not out of your attic anyway.
I think the temperature in our attic matters because our HVAC system is there. How could it not matter what temperature the air handler and duct work is being subjected to?
I think the temperature in our attic matters because our HVAC system is there. How could it not matter what temperature the air handler and duct work is being subjected to?
Well yes, the ductwork would be affected - but that would be minimal, especially if you insulate it a bit.
All I'm saying is that attics need to be ventilated. This is probably a stupid, overly simplistic picture, so I apologize if it is... http://www.nci-ins.com/NCI/Graphics/Faq/ventsfaq.jpg (broken link)
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