Attic ventilation question
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Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Northeast LA
Attic ventilation question
I always ask you guys because there are so many people on here that have so many different professions. Summer is coming up and I want my house to be ready this year. We bought the house last year in May and it was hard to keep the living room cool. We had to turn the thermostat up to 77^ just to keep the unit from running constantly. Well this year I am installing more insulation in the attic I know, but I was curious if it would help if I added more attic ventilation. I've attached a (crappy) diagram of our roof line, there are three open gables at the back of the house, but no ventilation at all at the front of the house and no soffit vents at all on the house either. I was thinking of install a turbine type vent on the roof at the front to see if that would help create some air flow through the attic from the gables at the back to out the turbine. What do you guys think??
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
Another route to go is look into places that offer attic fans in various sizes -
This is a serious consideration of my own for the summers down here.
HYPOTHESIS: IF I can get rid of the super-heat in the attic, the rest of the house below will be far cooler as a direct result of not being attached to an overhead "BROILER".
Such fans can be thermostatically controlled to provide positive ventilation only when needed, and a fan is cheaper to run than an A/C compressor...
Think also in the long term regarding foliage (such as shade trees) that can both reduce solar impact and provide relief from strong and heat robbing winds in winter time.
Still air stays warmer.
I would place such fans in the unventilated gables at the front of the house to draw unrestricted flow from the other three gables!
*They have shutters that close when the fans are not operating
PS: I'm two statelines up, here in Memphis TN
This is a serious consideration of my own for the summers down here.
HYPOTHESIS: IF I can get rid of the super-heat in the attic, the rest of the house below will be far cooler as a direct result of not being attached to an overhead "BROILER".
Such fans can be thermostatically controlled to provide positive ventilation only when needed, and a fan is cheaper to run than an A/C compressor...
Think also in the long term regarding foliage (such as shade trees) that can both reduce solar impact and provide relief from strong and heat robbing winds in winter time.
Still air stays warmer.
I would place such fans in the unventilated gables at the front of the house to draw unrestricted flow from the other three gables!
*They have shutters that close when the fans are not operating
PS: I'm two statelines up, here in Memphis TN
Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,313
Likes: 12
From: Northeast LA
Another route to go is look into places that offer attic fans in various sizes -
This is a serious consideration of my own for the summers down here.
HYPOTHESIS: IF I can get rid of the super-heat in the attic, the rest of the house below will be far cooler as a direct result of not being attached to an overhead "BROILER".
Such fans can be thermostatically controlled to provide positive ventilation only when needed, and a fan is cheaper to run than an A/C compressor...
Think also in the long term regarding foliage (such as shade trees) that can both reduce solar impact and provide relief from strong and heat robbing winds in winter time.
Still air stays warmer.
I would place such fans in the unventilated gables at the front of the house to draw unrestricted flow from the other three gables!
*They have shutters that close when the fans are not operating
PS: I'm two statelines up, here in Memphis TN
This is a serious consideration of my own for the summers down here.
HYPOTHESIS: IF I can get rid of the super-heat in the attic, the rest of the house below will be far cooler as a direct result of not being attached to an overhead "BROILER".
Such fans can be thermostatically controlled to provide positive ventilation only when needed, and a fan is cheaper to run than an A/C compressor...
Think also in the long term regarding foliage (such as shade trees) that can both reduce solar impact and provide relief from strong and heat robbing winds in winter time.
Still air stays warmer.
I would place such fans in the unventilated gables at the front of the house to draw unrestricted flow from the other three gables!
*They have shutters that close when the fans are not operating
PS: I'm two statelines up, here in Memphis TN
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 65,938
Likes: 1,432
From: Millersville, MD
Hey Dutch...those thermal activated attic fans are one of the most causes of houses burning down!! Fan fails, motor catches fire - poof!
Ridge-line vent is prob the best. Those wind driven turbine vents worked great for my next door neighbor until the next time he had to have the roof redone, then they installed the ridge-line vent.
Ridge-line vent is prob the best. Those wind driven turbine vents worked great for my next door neighbor until the next time he had to have the roof redone, then they installed the ridge-line vent.
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
You have a solid point there - and my thinking on it is to use commercial conduit that is solidly grounded and BREAKERS in the event of a rupture in electrical continuity.
I didn't say it should be done incompetently.
~Regards,
Wolfie
But these measures are vitally necessary - and it is high time we stopped being stupid about the heating and cooling costs of our HOUSES!
YES!
HOUSES....
Our goddamned high priced fooking homes.....
Which: (in their basic maintenance) cost us far more of our living than I like to even think about!
ANY WAY WE CAN CUT THAT DOWN IS DOLLARS IN THE BANKS FOR OUR OWN FUTURES
Do you agree?
~ So then my basic question must become: How can we best accomplish that, and share it to all here who may benefit?
WHAT CAN WE DO?
~Whoever has the shoe now, may put it on their foot....
I didn't say it should be done incompetently.
~Regards,
Wolfie
But these measures are vitally necessary - and it is high time we stopped being stupid about the heating and cooling costs of our HOUSES!
YES!
HOUSES....
Our goddamned high priced fooking homes.....
Which: (in their basic maintenance) cost us far more of our living than I like to even think about!
ANY WAY WE CAN CUT THAT DOWN IS DOLLARS IN THE BANKS FOR OUR OWN FUTURES
Do you agree?
~ So then my basic question must become: How can we best accomplish that, and share it to all here who may benefit?
WHAT CAN WE DO?
~Whoever has the shoe now, may put it on their foot....
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Super Moderator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 40,031
Likes: 1,521
From: Maine, Virginia
I just got a new roof installed on my house. My old shingles were the 25 year asphalt and I had turbine vents and gable vents.
I now have a 50 year roof with ridge vents and gable vents. I have no soffits what so ever. Cutting in ridge vents is the best and cheapest way to go.
I now have a 50 year roof with ridge vents and gable vents. I have no soffits what so ever. Cutting in ridge vents is the best and cheapest way to go.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
Likes: 50
From: Texas
Whatever you do, make sure to look at the big picture. Adding insulation is the most important step. When you go to add ventilation, realize that any air exhausted out of the attic has to be replaced by new air coming in.
If you added ridge vents to your house, then the intake air would come from the gable vents and you would end up with airlfow across the top of the attic, but a stagnant layer down near the insulation.
If it were me, I'd start by adding some type of ventilation at the front of the house, possibly another gable vent along with some passive roof ventilators, and adding soffit vents all the way around the house after I put the extra insulation in.
Wind turbines don't really pull that much air out. They spin to keep water out when it's raining. They also tend to squeak or stop spinning as bearings wear out. Power vents can work, but you're using electricity to save electricity, and most of the ones you'll see use cheap motors that can burn out. Solar vents sound like a great idea, but have a low CFM rating and are expensive.
If you added ridge vents to your house, then the intake air would come from the gable vents and you would end up with airlfow across the top of the attic, but a stagnant layer down near the insulation.
If it were me, I'd start by adding some type of ventilation at the front of the house, possibly another gable vent along with some passive roof ventilators, and adding soffit vents all the way around the house after I put the extra insulation in.
Wind turbines don't really pull that much air out. They spin to keep water out when it's raining. They also tend to squeak or stop spinning as bearings wear out. Power vents can work, but you're using electricity to save electricity, and most of the ones you'll see use cheap motors that can burn out. Solar vents sound like a great idea, but have a low CFM rating and are expensive.
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