Power Attic Vent

[cidley69]

Our house is already getting too hot in the evening/nights.

Due to living in flood plain, our furnace is mounted on ceiling, had several AC quotes last year, most agreed AC would be $2-3K more than standard install due to the funny configuration of the furnace.

At night time it feels like the heat radiates from the ceiling, especially the master closet where the attic access hatch is.

Wondering about the option of power attic vents?

Anyone have these? How do they perform for heat mitigation?

[RealJimmyJames]

If the heat is truly coming down, venting may help, but you should check out adding insulation as well. Blown in attic insulation is typically very cheap.

First check is to go up there one evening and figure out how hot it is, and then also find out how hot the interior ceiling is. Do you have an infrared thermometer handy?

[cidley69]

No infrared thermometer. Can these be rented somewhere?

[RealJimmyJames]

$20 http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00PPMU3XM

[cidley69]

Ordered the fancy thermometer, thanks for the link.

If anyone has a power vent in their attic, how do you like it?

Some websites say it creates negative pressure in attic and this pulls air from inside the house, causing problems. This true?

[revelations]

Yes, if there is insufficient air intake into the attic from outside.

[mr2mike]

Age of house?

What do your shingles look like? Are they curling up? That's a sign of too much heat in attic/not enough venting.

Neighbour has one on his 1950s house. Claims it works awesome but I have my doubts. But it looks cool, that it opens when hot and is solar powered.

My doubts come from what others are saying and how a roof and venting actually work.

Do you leave your windows open all day long?
Probably more effective of closing blinds and windows during day and opening them at night. Run a fan by an open window and open another window across the house to get air flow.

[cidley69]

Main floor of house stays fine, its only the upstairs master bedroom that gets really hot. we keep windows closed and blinds/blackout curtains drawn. shingles were just replaced due to hail , but the previous shingles didn't show any signs of curling.

This house is 1994, venting should be decent in attic. just looking for options to get it cooler, other than ac.

[kenny]

Originally posted by cidley69
Ordered the fancy thermometer, thanks for the link.

If anyone has a power vent in their attic, how do you like it?

Some websites say it creates negative pressure in attic and this pulls air from inside the house, causing problems. This true?

There should be plenty of airflow at the soffit/eaves to prevent that from happening. You shouldn't need a power attic vent, a properly venting attic should have natural airflow. Unless of course attic vent designs were different back in 1994.

I was in my attic last summer when it was 25C or so outside. Felt like 40-50 in the attic, not sure of actual temp. but I didn't feel any of the heat at all in the house so you may look into adding more or replacing the insulation that is in the attic.

Does your master bedroom feel cold in the winter too?

[90_Shelby]

We have one in our attic, but we also have A/C, house was built in 1962. We have nicknamed it the attic garburator because it does vibrate and make some noise but I don't know when it was installed.... A/C was installed in 1983, before that?

It turns on when the attic reaches a certain temp, and it turned on twice this week but i have no idea how effective it is primarily due to how my attic is vented. As it cooled off outside, it eventually shut off.

With that being said we also open the windows at night, close them and the blinds during the day and keep our furnace on circulate to move the air around. We end up using the A/C only a few weeks of the year but I'm also cheap.

Regarding insulation, our house is a 4 level split with a very small attic only on the top level. Similarly to yourself, the ceiling gets quite warm in the summer and I'm certain it radiates into the bedrooms at night. If I could add more insulation I would. I agree with one of the above posts that more insulation will help a lot.

[cidley69]

Thanks for the replies. Going with static choice of more insulation sounds better (punny) than the noisier choice of the attic garburator.

Any have a recommendation for blown insulation company?

[blubs]

Had the same issue with my house in Acadia (built in 1963). Biggest thing is to get rid of the old wood soffits and get proper venting. Most houses back then were vented using side vents which is fine when windy, but is pretty inconsistent.

Also if blowing in insulation, make sure you have the proper stops to prevent blocking things up.

[s_havinga]

I used a company called Energy Insulation for my house. I was happy with the job and the price charged.

I used to work in the roofing industry, a lot of people install whirleybird turbine vents to help encourage attic air flow, they are pretty cheap. Also, making sure that your soffits are vented and that the insulation in the attic is not blocking them can make a huge difference.

[Darell_n]

Yup, I had a new roof put on my 20yr old house and I found most of my soffits buried in insulation. I pulled them all down and shopvac 'd them all clean. The attic dropped like 20°c the rest of the summer.