"Shawn" wrote in message
...
I live in a condo, and have major limits on the types of improvements
that I can make. I have an end unit, with a finished loft that is
unbearably hot. If it wasn't for the loft, I'd barely run my air
conditioner throughout the summer. The rest of the condo (first
floor) stays pretty mild with the exception of just a few days in the
summer.

In an attempt to find solutions to the problem I've researched exactly
what is installed. There are no soffit vents - it's just solid
siding-like material with no perforations or venting at all. There
are no gable vents, of course on the one side due to a firewall, and
the outside wall doesn't have one. There is a ridge vent. The
rafters are 2x8, with what looks like about R-19 installed, and I can
see some sytrofoam baffles in some of the cavities.

I'm giving serious consideration to a powered attic ventilator,
although I understand the issues with them and negative pressures.
That seems to be my only option at this point given the fact that I
can't install soffit venting or gable vents.

If anyone has another suggestion that might be more effective I'd love
to hear about it. Thanks.

Without soffit vents, the powered ventilator will "short-circuit" the ridge
vent. You really should have vents low and high, of about equal area, to get
natural ventilation through the whole area.

If you don't need the air conditioning, you could put a "whole house fan"
into your unit, exhausting the inside air through the attic, thus
ventilating your unit and cooling the attic. You might need some way to
close and insulate the fan opening during the winter. I have a 1 foot "attic
gable exhaust" fan I place in the attic access opening for the summer which
does a very good job of cooling the house. I control it using an X10 remote
control. Just opening the access hatch gets some ventilation going.

Bob