High Humidity Attic Summer

An unventilated attic can reach 150 degrees in the heat of summer 50 degrees higher than it should be.

High humidity attic summer.

By scott gibson march 18 2019. Jason advani jason advani thought he was on the right track when he insulated the bottom of the roof deck in his walk up attic with closed cell spray foam. In an attic like this wintertime ceiling condensation can form when cold air from the attic hits your warm ceiling. Freezing and excessively hot outdoor temperatures rain and high exterior humidity levels make it difficult for your attic fan and heating and cooling systems to keep up with desirable attic.

In summer when the air conditioning is on the reverse happens. They keep your home cooler in the summer warmer in the winter and free from damage caused by moisture. However when it s humid out the environment interferes with this cooling process as our sweat does not evaporate easily in humid weather. The most common cause of ceiling condensation is an attic with too little insulation and ventilation.

Jason advani has insulated his attic with spray polyurethane foam and while his heating bills have dropped high humidity remains a problem. The concern in summer is heat. High indoor humidity in summer after replacing attic fiberglass batts with celluose insulation. When it s hot your body tries to cool itself naturally through sweating.

As planned the r 40 worth of insulation has drastically reduced his heating bill but now he faces another unexpected problem. The main goal is to keep your attic temperature the same as the outside air temperature in the summer as well as in winter. And it can cause your air conditioner to work harder than it needs to and send your energy bills soaring with the temperature. Health issues caused by high humidity high levels can cause discomfort for most people particularly during summer.

Extra heat build up under the roof deck can cause your shingles to deteriorate much faster sometimes cutting their life expectancy in half. So if no sealing was done in the attic before cellulose was blown in then your pulling humidity from the attic into the envelope. During the winter months the recommended relative humidity inside a house is anywhere between 30 50 percent. If there is excessive moisture accumulation in your attic it will condense on cold areas mainly on the underside of your roof deck.

Why is that important. June 2016 in indoor air quality.