"LdB" wrote in message
m...
On 2/25/2011 7:31 PM, Home Guy wrote:
LdB wrote:

Just curious as to what type of vents you have.

Pretty much exactly like this:

http://www.single-family-home-remode...roof-vents.jpg

It's about 12 inches on a side.

I have 2 roof sections on my house. One is almost square - 35 ft by 30
ft. It's got 4 sides (like a pyramid). If I had a ridge vent, it would
only be about 4 or 5 feet long.

So I have 2 vents (like in the picture) on 2 sides of that roof, and a
powered vent fan on the third side. The fourth side has no vents - you
can see that side from the road (you can't see the other 3 sides).

The powered vent looks like this:

http://www.atticvents.org/wp-content...ttic-Vents.jpg

The other roof section is about 25 feet by 50 feet. It's got 2 sides.
I could put a 25-foot ridge vent on it, but because it's lower it
doesn't get as much direct sun in the afternoon. I also have 2 passive
vents and a powered vent on that roof.

I have been up in the attic when the sun has been shinning all
day and the outside temp are in the high 90's. It's warm up there
but not hot. I would estimate the temp up there to be about 5 deg
above outside.

I have tan or light-brown colored shingles (the lightest color I could
find that matches the brick on my house).

In late july or early august, on a 90 degree day outside with full sun,
with my fan running from dawn til dusk, I can barely keep the
temperature at 125.

Unless you put a temperature sensor positioned just under the decking
(but not touching it) you can't really do a good job estimating
temperature by waving your arm in your attic.

And if you have an attic hatch in your ceiling, and you are estimating
the temperture in the attic by standing on a ladder with your head
poking through the hatch, then you will be fooled by the cooler interior
air flowing past you up through the hatch and into the attic while the
hatch is open. You will not get a true sense of attic temperature that
way.

My neighbor has the regular square vents on his roof. According
to him he has the required amount of vents per code. He does
have well ventilated soffits but his attic is hot.

Code is crap. It doesn't mean additional insulation wasn't added since
the house was built - insulation that is blocking airflow from the
soffits to the attic space.

Codes are well known for skimping out on soffit venting.

You can work in my attic with little discomfort. I wouldn't
even go up into his.

What color are his shingles? What color are yours?

Does he have anything to shield his roof at mid-day? A tree, a
building, some other structure? What about your roof?


My shingles are a light brown, Ceder Tone as I recall. My neighbors roof
is green and is bit darker than mine which would account for his attic
being a few degrees warmer.

Our trees are too far from the house to shade the roof during the day. It
would be nice to have the shade but it's also nice not having to worry
about a tree falling on the place when the summer storms come through. I
do get a lot of shade when the sun starts going down in the late
afternoon.

I have a lot of room up in the attic and have a few radio antennas hidden
up there. I'm a long way out in the country. Right on the fringe of radio
reception. When I built the house I put in a catwalk the length of the
attic along with a light and power plug.

I've been up in the attic many times on hot summer days. As a mater of
fact I need to go up there now to put in another antenna but I'm putting
it off until summer. I would rather go up into my attic in summer than in
winter. Now how many times have you heard someone say that?

You can actuall feel the air moving up there. There is that much natural
ventilation. I considered putting in a few additional gable end vents but
found they were not necessary.

This is getting away from the subject but when built the house I put in a
few large pipes between the attic and crawl space. I have the luxury of
being able to fish into any part of the house with minimal effort. That's
why the catwalk is up there.

Speaking of code I insulated way above code when built. I have R-60 in my
ceilings. Even with all the glass I have this house is cheaper to heat
than my old 50's bungalow that is half the size.

It really is a shame that it took so long for modern building techniques
to evolve. Can you imagine how much energy would be saved today had these
building practices been in place fifty years ago. Besides outright energy
saving my house is very comfortable. I can walk around the place barefoot
even when the outside temps are below -40 deg and I don't have carpets on
the floors yet.


Perhaps I can be an inspiration to some of the readers here. I built this
house myself with the help of family and friends over the space of about
ten years.

http://www.mts.net/~lmlod/cabinfront7.jpg

Even the cupboards. These started out as pile of rough cut sawmill lumber.
Most people around here that wood for firewood.

http://www.mts.net/~lmlod/cupboards3.jpg

Anything is possible. You just have to put your mind to it and have a good
supply of elbow grease handy.

LdB

Nice work on the home and the cabinets.

Colbyt