I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
..
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
..
Thank you for your time.

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:44:39 -0400, "Jack" wrote:

I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.

You did a poor job of googling. Lots of people including myself
have lowered the electric bill and the temp of my attic using a power
vent in addition to my ridge vents in my hip roof.

How many linear feet of ridge vent do you have?

Well thats not enough. You can supplement the ventilation with
power vents.

That's a big attic--is that the floor area, or the roof area (both faces)?

I have an attic of about that floor area, w/ a crappy mushroom fan. I
insulated between the joists w/ fiberglass, covered by 1/8" paneling, which
made all the difference in the world.
And, essentially no other venting. The teeny ones that were there were
covered, and instead I crack the attic door/ladder to vent the warm air
rising to the top floor from the house.
The fan is on a thermostat.

A small A/C, about 6,000 btu, makes the space entirely inhabitable in the
summer, ditto a small dehumidifier in the winter.
In the winter, I put a piece of paneling over the fan opening.

I personally don't understand the hyper-venting of attics. At least not in
the context of good insulation.

Insulation roolz.
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY

Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!

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all d'numbuhs

"Jack" wrote in message
news
I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:44:39 -0400, "Jack" wrote:

I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue,

groups.google or www.google ?

and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?

I'm not going to get into thisat this time, but I will say that fan or
not, you should check your soffit vents outside every 10 or 15 years
to see if they are clogged with airborne plant life.

The first time, mine had a layer about half as thick as the lint
filter on the dryer when it starts to whistle. I think sometimes
there is a lot of milkweed around here, but I"m sure there are other
things that do this too.
..
Thank you for your time.

What I have read is the power fan is not recommended because it can pull too
much air from inside the house, including the nice air-conditioned air. In
addition, my air-conditioning unit is in the same blistering hot attic I am
trying to cool down.
..
There seem to be differing opinions on the power vent vs turbine. This
newsgroup is very good at this stuff due to the experience level of the
posters here. Hence the reason for the question.
..
Thank you.

"ValveJob" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:44:39 -0400, "Jack" wrote:

I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.

You did a poor job of googling. Lots of people including myself
have lowered the electric bill and the temp of my attic using a power
vent in addition to my ridge vents in my hip roof.

How many linear feet of ridge vent do you have?

Well thats not enough. You can supplement the ventilation with
power vents.

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:44:39 -0400, "Jack" wrote:

I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.



I, too, have a very similar situation. There is a heating/cooling
system up there and I have ridge vents. I added additional insulation
around the ductwork and added a wooden floor last year. That doesn't
reduce the summer heat, though. My plans are to add a side louvered
window with a fan for those incredibly hot 100-degree days.

Jack wrote:

I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.


I'm a big fan of radiant barriers. Google is your friend.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Jack wrote:

What I have read is the power fan is not recommended because it can pull too
much air from inside the house, including the nice air-conditioned air. In
addition, my air-conditioning unit is in the same blistering hot attic I am
trying to cool down.
.
snip

Don't confuse "whole house attic fans" (which draw interior air into the
attic) with "attic ventilation fans" (which draw from e.g. gable to
gable or soffit to roof). You shouldn't be pulling any appreciable
amount of interior air into the attic with the latter -- if you do, you
have inadequate sealing.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Phisherman wrote:

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:44:39 -0400, "Jack" wrote:


I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.




I, too, have a very similar situation. There is a heating/cooling
system up there and I have ridge vents. I added additional insulation
around the ductwork and added a wooden floor last year. That doesn't
reduce the summer heat, though. My plans are to add a side louvered
window with a fan for those incredibly hot 100-degree days.

I have a thermostatically controlled gable fan, and it runs a lot during
this time of year. I'm convinced it relieves a lot of the load from the
central A/C. But don't expect one to save you a lot on electric bills;
they use quite a bit of energy on their own -- maybe even as much as
they save (assuming you've got decent attic-floor insulation).


--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

what ellse are you going to do besides power roof vents? i
have added power vents to ridge vent setup with success. useing one or
two actually sized a little bigger for the square footage works very
well. just speaking from actual have dones. lucas

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

If the *sizing* of an attic fan is an issue for you, you might try finding a
variable speed one, or putting in a variable speed motor.
I haven't seen one of these myself, but it's a good idea.

I sort of did this myself, as my cheapo mushroom attic fan froze up, and I
then kluged in a Panasonic 3-speed oscillating fan, which also froze up.
Worked great, for a while.
Then I scavenged a pretty heavy-duty 3-speed motor/fan from an A/C unit.
Only problem is, there's not much of a difference among the 3 speeds.
sigh
But iffin there WERE more of a difference, it'd be great.
It does do the job tho, and is thermostatically controlled--with the A/C
thermostat.
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY

Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!

entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs

"Jack" wrote in message
news
I have a hip-roof colonial. The attic is about 1100 sq ft. There is a
ridge vent across the top of the roof, plus soffit venting all the way
around. In the attic, there is a heating/cooling system. During the
summer, it gets unbelievably hot, which really affects the cooling ability
of the system.
.
I have googled this issue, and it seems that power roof vents are not the
way to go to lower the temperature. If I can't use a power vent, what are
the options ?
.
Thank you for your time.