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We have a walk-in attic that needs a ridge vent installed but because of numerous storms and such, all of the roofers are booked solid until at least next spring. Our handyman that normally does this kind of thing for us threw out his back and doesn't know when he can get to it. It's only a real problem in the spring and fall so we need something temporarily until then. There is a non-opening window in the space that faces the front of the house. We could take that out but I'd rather not. In the past we have just put regular fans in there to move the air. The door is off one of the bedrooms in the house so we open that and blow a fan out to the bedroom. I'm not sure if there is any other solution right now, but maybe someone else has some ideas?
Well blowing the hot attic air INTO the house certainly isn't helping.
What kind of ventilation does the attic have now? And why do you think it needs a ridge vent?
And why is "it" a problem in the Spring and Fall- not the middle of the Summer?
It has no ventilation right now. Our contractor said that a ridge vent would solve the problems. It's mostly a spring/fall issue because of the variability in temperatures between night and day. No, blowing the air into the house is not idea, but it's what we can do with what we have now. We do close off the bedroom and open windows when we need to air out the attic.
Temporary solution without getting too involved the only thing I can think of is putting a ducted fan partially in the window. Run the duct to the other end of the attic. Air can come in the other part of the window and circulate too the duct end at the other side of the attic.
You're going to want try and separate the outside air from the ducted air so you're not just sucking the same air back in.
If you don't have vented soffits as already mentioned the ridge vent is not going to help much, it needs air coming into the structure from the soffits to function well
A temporary solution would be to remove the window pane and install an attic fan, or at least a good quality bi-directional window fan (a window fan set with two fans. One pushes air into the attic, and the other out of the attic). You can use a piece of plywood to cover the window opening above the fan's top edge.
Temporary solution without getting too involved the only thing I can think of is putting a ducted fan partially in the window. Run the duct to the other end of the attic. Air can come in the other part of the window and circulate too the duct end at the other side of the attic.
You're going to want try and separate the outside air from the ducted air so you're not just sucking the same air back in.
If you don't have vented soffits as already mentioned the ridge vent is not going to help much, it needs air coming into the structure from the soffits to function well
The other "end" of the attic is the door to that bedroom. I'm not sure about the soffits. I will have to check and see what the set up is there. I'll double check with the contractor too. Maybe we need to put in a heat/AC vent in that room. The house is similar to this one.
The "attic" space would be in that peaked area where the planter box is. Our window there is just an octagonal window that doesn't open though. It is in the long range plan to finish that room off into a walk-in closet but not going to happen in the next year or two.
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Originally Posted by RayinAK
A temporary solution would be to remove the window pane and install an attic fan, or at least a good quality bi-directional window fan (a window fan set with two fans. One pushes air into the attic, and the other out of the attic). You can use a piece of plywood to cover the window opening above the fan's top edge.
That is a possibility if I can find a fan to fit the window. It is basically this window. Maybe I can find one that opens that has a screen???
The other "end" of the attic is the door to that bedroom.
I'm not sure if you understand what I meant, you're not not going to do anything with the bedroom door but keep it closed. You run the duct fan from the window to near where that door is. That's going to pressurize the attic, that air has to go somewhere so it will go out the window if that is the easiest egress but it has to travel across the entire attic before it does that.
The point is you need a source of air and way for it to get out. Ideally you have a situation like Ray mentioned with one window on one side and another on the other side.
As I mentioned already if you need to use the same window for both your source and egress you're going to make sure the fan is not sucking in the air you just expelled. It's not great solution but better than nothing if you have the window to work with now.
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I'm not sure about the soffits
You're going to want to check that because ideally you want a balanced circulation. For example if you put the ridge vent and just opened the window most of the air from the window is going to go out a small section of the ridge vent. The rest of the attic is not going to see much fresh air.
People often make the mistake of blocking the soffit.
You still haven't addressed the "problem".
You said there's no ventilation, and the problem is Spring and Fall-
Is the "problem" no ventilation, or is it some other related issue you're trying to resolve? Like, there's excessive heat in the conditioned area(s) of the house? If that's the case maybe you should be looking at the insulation on the attic floor and wall(s); and the door (probably non-insulated and no weatherstripping). These things will do more to change the environment in the house than a "ridge vent". Especially since the house was built in 1940.
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