Living in Texas, summer's are stifling. The attic of our 1-story home is (fortunately) spacious, but there is a tremendous amount of heat in the summer (130-150-degrees during the day). The ambient heat coming through the roof is intense. I wondered about adding insulation between the roof joists, having seen reflective insulation there on new houses. Recommendations on specific products and how to buy?? Thanks. (Other suggestions welcomed!!)

 

Sounds more to me that you dont have that attic vented. Get lots of vents in the over hang and up on the roof .Also a power vent fan there in the attic would sure help you out. If you dont have R 30 insulation there on the ceiling add some more there. Not in on the roof joist. ED

 

Thanks Ed for your comments. I do have about 3 roof vents, plus gables (failed to mention that previously...sorry!) There is some insulation on the floor of the attic...a sort of white, cotton-ball looking material, though I think it's some kind of fiberglass. It's blown in and loose...no covering on top. There is not a fan in the attic. I'd imagine that might help. Soffits first, I'm guessing???

 

There are power vent fans for the gables get one and get some vents in the soffits all round the home. Id forget that RB it dont last to long. If you go for more insulation up there on top of what you have just put plane insulation with no paper on it down ED

 

Ed when you say RB, do you mean some sort of radiant barrier? I have read little snippits here and there, but nothing solid yet. I am having the same problem he is having, with lack of ventilation. I had 2 gable vents that got covered up by the old homeowners siding crew,"well all except a couple passes with a circular saw".. Im looking into the new flashing type material from certanteed that is like a makeshift soffit behind the eaves since I have no overhang, and I am tossed on ridge or regular roof vents, But do you seriously recommend a power roof vent, ontop of having a full ridge vent or regular vents........I was also told that if you have ridge vents to block off the gable vents as that will hinder teh air movement up the pitch of the roof, and outside................................ Im not tryin to steal your post, just thought I would ask here since we are having the same problems.

 

I think If you go to this it will tell you about radiant barrier

http://www.ornl.gov/roofs+walls/hand...cts/index.html

This will tell you just what the gov. thinks of the RB for insulation. It works for a time then just dust on it kills it. They also say that you will get a better return on your$$$$ if you put more insulation in.Ill take a roof or gable power vent fan over any other thing.We look at the vent fan as another 1/2 ton of AC for the home at a very low cost.
You dont say just what your over hang is like. You could open the old gable vents as big as you can and put a vent fan on just one blowing out the other would let air in.If you dont have gutters you could use what we call button vents they come in from 1" to 4" dont let the rain or bugs in. You just cut a round hole and tap them in.On the ridge vents to put them on you have to pull the cap off and cut the shingles back cut the plywood out and all that. Most of the time in new homes they dont end up with more than a 1"thin slot for all this air to get out.We dont use them at all. We use a lot of just the 8" roof vent just below the cap strip on the roof. We look at a roof as just something to keep the rain and the snow off the insulation and thats all.So if its open all around the better. this way its not so hot in the summer and in the winter its cold so there is no ice dams or moisture there that can freeze and melt down on the ceiling.My power vent fan turns on here about 10 to 10:30 am and runs to about 11m when the tstat turns it off. On the turbine vents dont like them. When you need them there is no wind so they dont do anything.When it rains hard they let the rain in . When we have a hurricane you have to go take the darn things down and put a cap on the outlet If I forgot anything email me ED

 

Ed thanks for the site. Here is a link for what I am thinking of using
http://www.certainteed.com/cvent/cvav00801p.html
I am thinking of #3 the vented drip edge. I have no overhangs for undersoffit venting, but I do have gutters, so the buttons probably wouldnt work. Right now I am tossed on the ridge vent/regular roof vents, but it will be a couiple weeks befoer I get a roofer doing the roof.
Have you ever dealt with the drip vent from certainteed?...... Im not sure If I would need to tear down my gutters to instal this or not, If anybody has any experience in this please feel free to add some info.
Again Ed thanks this site is awesome.

Ed is your power vent a roof vent, or a gable type vent?

 

Government tests have proven power attic fans save no $$$ in moderately to well insulated attics.

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/Pubs/EnergyNotes/EN-13.HTM

http://www.lcec.net/Home/fans.htm

http://hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/95/951103.html

http://www.askbuild.com/cgi-bin/column?236


http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/liv...in/3062074.htm

Show ME some GOVERNMENT or other non-biased source showing how much money attic fans save
NO data from sites trying to sell product !!

Personally I like the wind turbines, they operate for free and can pull quite a bit of air through the attic.

Ridge vents with "mesh" material (most ridge vents are like this) just get clogged up with dust in a few years.

Static roof vents work well if you use enough of them.
1 sq in of free vent area for every 2 sq ft of attic space, most vent are 50 sq in so one vent per 100 sq ft should do.
Combined with soffit vents this should get you close to the DOE reccommended 1/150 ratio.

 

Say what you may . They are about to outlaw the turbines vents here by code. As I have said when its hot hot and no wind they dont do any thing put have a hole in your roof. Then most of them will let the rain in. Could be the salt air here But they can 't turn at all after about a year and a half . Then if we have a bad storm or a hurricane you have to go up and take them off and put the cap on the pipe. As far as roof vent fans, have had commercial jobs where with the fans in the attic the AC units didnt come on for an hour after the ones that didnt have there fan in yet where running . Thats why I have a power vent in my homes and also a hot water recovery unit on my AC for free hot water. There in TX your ac runs about as long as ours do so a HRU unit would work good for you. Like i said before a roof should be open all around and is just there to keep the rain and snow off the home and keep it in the shade.

just my $0.02 worth ED

 

Here in Oklahoma there is almost always some wind blowing adn I see the turbine vents are quite popular around here.
Did you say TORNADO ?
We have more tornados here than ANYWHERE in the country and code has no problem with the turbines.
As far as the salt air we don't have that in Oklahoma
The newer turbines have lifetime sealed bearings, don't know how they hold up to the salt though, maybe the aluminum ones would do better.
I know my attic rarely breaks 120F in the heat of the summer and that's good enough for me
If you do go with the electric fan get the one with the capacitor run motor, the cheap fans use shaded pole motors that only last 2-3 years.
Look on the isle with the attic fans and you will see a stack of replacement shaded pole motors


Ed, what are your thoughts on ridge vents ?

 

Dont like them at all. Have used some on homes cause people had it in their heads thats what they wanted. Most of the time its that they are put in wrong, are I should say bad workmen ship. Have seen where just 1" cut off each side of the ridge thats all.Then the roofer comes in and the felt covers the cut are the top row of shingles justs lay over the cut out so no air gets out.Now the ones with filters ha ha. My home base is up in missouri and my hvac shop is there. Some time back did a large condo set up. . The next year had them all checked out A ok. hot july they all started going off on high head?????????????? I started looking around had me for a while. They where all trane AC with the spine fin outdoor coil. Washed them out and it was the yellow oak tree pollen that came out. So just think about the new ridge vent with the filters in them, just how long will they let air out.We put that 3"vent strip all around the home in the over hang. Now with the 12 " blow on insulation. We run the over hang out at the ceiling line. and add a knee there at the wall in the truss and use that cardboard set up so we can get a full blow and still have the air slot above it for the attic air. then a power vent up at the ridge line. If the roof is say cut up on some of the smaller roofs then button roof vents on them.Down here I just look around a lot. What they are building now here I dont think any of it would pass a VA or FHA for attic vents let alone the way they flash a roof its a built in leak.And now all tile roofs with no vents at the ridge at all in the new homes.I know it can be doneI had a power vent in the other home I had with tile roof. The other day I saw a roof vent up near the ridge on a tile roof. Looked like it was made in a tin shop. 2 of them on each side each 8' long good clean lines. Then they painted it the color of the tile. looked good. Hey spent a year over there at Enid OK.If you want email me and ill send pic of home we did 4600 ft 6 tons all elec. run a $160.00 per month all year. there in Mo. And did I say I dont like ridge vents, I dont ED

 

I'm new here and was just reading through some of the posts
and wanted to add a few words and a link for more info.
on radiant barriers.
What was said about radiant barriers failing due to loss of reflectivity because of dust build up is true.
This is why a properly installed radiant barrier is installed with
the foil facing the interior of the attic.
In this part of Louisiana radiant barrier available attached to the roof decking (on osb or cdx). It is still available on rolls, but in new construction it is more cost effective to install the decking and radiant barrier in one step.
On retrofit homes the rolls of radiant barrier are installed by
stapling the radiant barrier to the underside of the rafters,
again with the foil facing into the attic.

Here is a link to the Florida Solar Energy Center
www.fsec.ucf.edu

they have quite a bit of information and also commonly asked questions and answers.
Keep in mind that different parts of the country have specific needs, and only apply information that is specific to your area.

Going back to read more....