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Attic ventilation woes
I think I have a serious problem with attic ventilation in my
two-story house. It has this wierd design in which the soffits are actually lower than the ceilings by a couple of feet. Here's a link to a diagram. http://www.geocities.com/tgcplatemat...entilation.jpg The whole perimeter is like that, with all the second-floor ceilings having an angled section about three feet long that runs parallel to the roof. As far as I can tell, the space between the ceiling and the roof (where they are parallel) is stuffed with blown-in insulation, completely blocking the soffit vents. My question is how is this supposed to work? If I remove the insulation that's blocking the vents, some of my ceiling will be uninsulated. Also, is there any unbiased organization/person I can hire to look at my situation and tell me what, if anything, I need to do. Obviously, any company I hire to look at it will tell me I need work done and that they are the best company to do it. I appreciate any help I can get, as my electric bills are ridiculous. |
#2
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Attic ventilation woes
I don't know why the link doesn't work when you click on it, but if
you paste it directly into the Address field of your browser, it does. I think I have a serious problem with attic ventilation in my two-story house. It has this wierd design in which the soffits are actually lower than the ceilings by a couple of feet. Here's a link to a diagram. http://www.geocities.com/tgcplatemat...entilation.jpg The whole perimeter is like that, with all the second-floor ceilings having an angled section about three feet long that runs parallel to the roof. As far as I can tell, the space between the ceiling and the roof (where they are parallel) is stuffed with blown-in insulation, completely blocking the soffit vents. My question is how is this supposed to work? If I remove the insulation that's blocking the vents, some of my ceiling will be uninsulated. Also, is there any unbiased organization/person I can hire to look at my situation and tell me what, if anything, I need to do. Obviously, any company I hire to look at it will tell me I need work done and that they are the best company to do it. I appreciate any help I can get, as my electric bills are ridiculous. |
#3
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Attic ventilation woes
Is it possible that there are styrofoam vent channels stabled to the
underside of the lower part of your roof that keep the insulation about an inch away drom the underside of the roof and allow for air flow from the soffit to flow directly against the underside of the roof? That is what should have been done. Depending on the exact situation, they may be hard to see. I think I have a serious problem with attic ventilation in my two-story house. It has this wierd design in which the soffits are actually lower than the ceilings by a couple of feet. Here's a link to a diagram. http://www.geocities.com/tgcplatemat...entilation.jpg The whole perimeter is like that, with all the second-floor ceilings having an angled section about three feet long that runs parallel to the roof. As far as I can tell, the space between the ceiling and the roof (where they are parallel) is stuffed with blown-in insulation, completely blocking the soffit vents. My question is how is this supposed to work? If I remove the insulation that's blocking the vents, some of my ceiling will be uninsulated. Also, is there any unbiased organization/person I can hire to look at my situation and tell me what, if anything, I need to do. Obviously, any company I hire to look at it will tell me I need work done and that they are the best company to do it. I appreciate any help I can get, as my electric bills are ridiculous. |
#4
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Attic ventilation woes
I appreciate any help I can get, as my electric bills are ridiculous. Couple of questions, and pardon me in advance if they sound stupid or patronizing. First, have you taken temperature measurements of the attic vs the outside air? High electric bills are not necessarily attic related. I Second, is this particular soffet setup all the way around the house? It looks a bit unusual to me, but then I am not an expert. Is this a northern house, and is this some sort of Ice-Dam prevention setup? (I'm down in the DFW area, and we don't have ice dam issues.) Okay, three questions. What kind of ventilation do you have beyond the soffets? Do you have ridge vents, power vents or Turbines, or perhaps none of the above? Maury Wylie, TX |
#5
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Attic ventilation woes
Thanks, guys, for taking an interest in my problem.
I live in Houston, TX, and my cooling bill is about 30% higher than neighbors with similar sized homes, despite the fact that I have solar screens and they don't. I have soffit vents and one powered fan vent near the ridge. I spoke to one neighbor and he says he can see the white styrofoam channels in his attic. Another neighbor, with almost the exact same floor plan and vent system as mine, can see light around the edges of his attic. I see neither in mine. If there are other things I can check to explain my high electric bills, I'm game. Are there people I can hire to analyze my house and figure it out? |
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