Attic ventilation can save you money. Here’s how…
If you haven’t noticed, it is brutally hot outside. Worse than that is the fact that it is even hotter in your attic. That’s costing you more money than you probably ever guessed.
When we go up into attics, we experience some pretty scary things. Sure, sometimes there are “critters” up there… but mostly we find that it is hard to breathe. The temperatures in many attics are 40+ degrees higher than the outside temperatures. The reason? Poor attic ventilation.
Attic ventilation is something most home builders don’t seem to understand well, because even newer homes often have inadequate attic ventilation. That’s costing the homeowner in air conditioning costs, a reduced life for their roof, and even heating costs in teh coming winter.
Most people can understand the higher costs of air conditioning due to high attic temperatures… especially if insulation is inadequate. But a reduced roof life, or higher heating costs? Can that be true?
Roof life can be reduced by more than 50% by high temperatures and inadequate ventilation. Ventilation moves both heat and humidity out of your attic to keep your roof from overheating. A hot, humid attic is like a steam oven that literally cooks your roof from the backside, and that makes it start failing far earlier than necessary.
Heating costs are most affected by the level of insulation you have. Sadly, hot, humid attics cook your insulation and make it less effective. The longer you avoid solving your hot attic problems, the more you will pay for heating this winter and next winter, simply because your insulation is not working as hard as it was.
Here is a checklist for you to make sure your attic is not harming you:
- Measure your insulation – you should have at least 12 inches. 18 inches is ideal.
- Look at your soffits from inside your dark attic – if you can’t see daylight streaming in, they are not open or open enough to provide cool air intake.
- Check your ridge vent from inside your attic – is there one? Is it cut open, so air can be pulled out by convection, or is there tar paper closing what should be the ridge opening?
- Check for gable end vents or auxiliary fans – if either are in your attic, they actually reduce the effectiveness of your attic ventilation.
If you are experiencing any of those problems, give us a call. We would be happy to help you understand how you can save money both this summer and winter with better, more efficient attic ventilation.
It could be the best investment you make this year, because it will keep saving money for you year after year. Our website is loaded with information to help you find the answers you need to make your home more comfortable, more affordable, and more resistant to weather’s vagaries.
