On Friday, February 8, 2019 at 6:16:17 PM UTC-5, Mike wrote:
On 2/7/2019 8:48 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/7/2019 8:51 PM, Mike wrote:
I have a temp/humidity sensor in the attic.
The attic and outside temperatures vary, but the
DEW POINT should be the same.
Often, they are.
But it's been wet this month and they don't always track.
At 2PM, the outside was 41F 41% DP=19
In the attic, it was 47F 90% DP=44
That seems to be a problem.
But at 5PM, it's
outside 36F 44% DP=16
Attic is 46F 76% DP=39
Other times the inside/attic dew points are about the same.
I've been using this site:
http://www.dpcalc.org/
The 90% number is not good for mold growth.
The 76% number ain't so bad.
The attic is below freezing at night, so may be
collecting moisture as ice crystals.
I don't have a historical log, but I haven't been alarmed in the past.
House is 47 years old ranch in Portland, Oregon.Â* Two layers of asphalt
shingles.Â* Wasn't leaking when I put on the second layer.
The insulation is fiberglass.Â* I expect it holds some moisture
and there will be some delay in the humidity dropping as the
outside humidity changes.
I called the roofer and asked about humidity in the attic and was
told to email the data.Â* The response basically ignored what I wrote
and gave no answer.
There's a lot of insulation in the attic and I can only get at about
half of it without messing up the insulation.Â* I see no evidence
of leakage around all the stuff sticking thru the roof and no
evidence of water damage, but I can't see much of the wood on the
inside of the roof.
Am I worrying too much?Â* Or should I put on the rubber boots
and trudge thru the insulation to get a better look.
What humidity should I expect to see in the attic?
My guess is worrying too much.Â* I don't know of anyone that has ever
tracked that data.Â* Just a guess, the air in the attic does not change
nearly as fst as outside air so even though the temperature is changing,
especially from solar load during the day, the air is not changing like
outside and moisture levels lag.
In any case, keep it well ventilated.
My basic assumption is that Dew Point is constant.
I enclose a volume of atmosphere in a container.
I heat the container.
The temperature goes up, the relative humidity goes down,
the Dew Point stays constant.
True or false?
True
If it's true,
and the attic dewpoint is 20F higher than the outside dewpoint
and sunshine causes the attic dewpoint to increase further,
where does the moisture come from?
My first impression is that the roof is heating and releasing
moisture into the attic. Where is that moisture coming from?
The attic is not a sealed box and should in fact have good ventilation
to the outside, so outside air is constantly exchanging with the air
inside. If air comes in during the day at 70% humidity, 70F and it
drops to 50F at night rather quickly, the attic will be at a higher
humidity until it has time to move enough air for it to equalize again.
Dew point inside the house is below the dewpoint in the attic,
so that's an unlikely source.
Only place I can think of for that to happen is
if there's liquid water trapped in the roof.
Sounds like an early indication of a leak?
I make the same measurements in the crawl space under the house.
It's hard to imagine that nobody else ever considered measuring
attic humidity. There's gotta be some real data out there.
Do you have a vapor barrier between the living space and the attic?
Have you tracked were all bath, dryer, etc vents go?