our house has a common room in the middle,

with kid's bath/bedrooms on one end, and master on other end.

and the Air Handler is in the attic over the kids bathroom.

so the air has to travel a LONG ways to get to the rest of the house.

well, the air handler, and all the ducting (the main run is insulated flex ducting) is super-heated since the sun is screaming down on the roof, heating the attic like a furnace.

so basically, the AC kicks on, and you get a HUGE blast of HOT AIR, then the AC has to run 10 minutes to cool the Air Handler an the ducts, and all the HOT air it just poofed into the house

and it's exact opposite in winter.

should I try to put some insulation blankets over the Air handler?
would it help to put some over that main duct?


or should I put ventilation in the attic?
how would that help in winter?

would the Electric strips in the air handler catch something on fire if it were covered up?

 

I would get a thermostatically controlled attic fan to purge the hot air from your attic. I wouldn't insulate the Air Handler, but I would make sure the duct work is well insulated.

 

good data. i read your posts in Pistol's problem with his polebarn, respect your opinion.

will start down that path.

 

You are going through the same thing I did. I just installed an attic fan and it has solved the problem. We'll see what it does to the electric bill. I hope it makes it go down some. In the heat of the day, you couldn't even stand it 5 min. before you were soaked down in sweat. The attic fan will knock a good 30-40 deg. out of the attic.

 

Solar powered attic fan. They only run when the sun is up and guess what, that is when you need the ventilation.

 

Your return on your investment for the solar fan is like 15 years plus most of the time you need two. It's not worth it. The electric attic fan with thermostat was $107.00 from Lowes. It does a 2100 sq/ft. attic.

 

Thanks........what I have done..........solar power is a neat idea, but up to now its been fairly pricey......just get an electrical one controlled by a thermostat and it will only run when needed. May have to look into some additional roof venting to allow the fan to circulate sufficient air.

 

the unit is designed for this coolng the ducts then the house but make sure the attic is vented and all soffits are open and not covered....

 

If any of the ducts are made of duct board, make sure the tape holding it together has not come unglued and has allowed the duct to separate and allow hot air inside the system and you to loose cold air when the system is running (I hate duct board, but many builder love it because it is cheap and easy to fabricate).

 

it was built in 2004, so it's newer

soffits are open, and uncovered.
but the only vent is the Ridge vent.

Spooler, shoot me a link to your Lowes fan. anyone got link to a better fan?

what did you use to vent the other end of the attic?
my house is frame with vinyl siding.


tks guys.

 

After you put in your attic venting, I would still insulate the ducting. But I am a sledge hammer type of guy when it comes to things like that. For the minimal expense of a roll or two of insulation, it seems like it would be worth it to get cold air out of the system right away, or at least that much faster. Might also help minimize condensation on and in your ducting as well.

Just my .02.

But Annabelle is definitely the authority on this one...

 

I used 18" x 24" gable vents and also installed turbine's on the roof, but back then I was in Denver and it was a lot dryer climate. I would want to limit the holes in my roof down there.

Basically what you need to calculate is the square footage of venting from your soffits, and any added gable vents or existing roof venting. Take that number and multiply it by .6 and that gives you the area which will equal 'forced' venting via a fan. Essentially with a fan you need twice as much vent space as the CFM's the fan is rated at so you don't stress the motor for the fan.

The .6 is from building in the west, so it may be different for your area.

HTH.

 

Well, I'm no expert, but I have built quite a few houses. Venting will be determined by your roof type......gable roof, I'd go with a gable vent, with the fan pulling from the opposite end( I would be shocked if it's not already there........hip roof.........turbine vents.......just place them so you get some cross drafting with the fan pulling outside air in........ridge vents can also be very effective.......as stated insulation is always a good thing....... I have insulation between my rafters and my joists......it was 107 here yesterday.

 

I'm sold on an attic fan. During the heat of summer a few years ago I had my fire alarm go off, every day, for hours. It was mounted to the ceiling of the second floor, below the attic. Turns out the heat from within the attic, through the insulation, was making the ceiling so hot that the fire alarm was freaking out. I installed a thermostatically controlled fan, into the space under and existing vent in the roof, and it drops the temperature enough in there that my fire alarm no longer goes crazy in the heat of the day. I checked the temperature difference right after it was installed, but I can't remember how much difference there was. I have noticed little difference in my electricity bill.

Chris

 

I have soffit vents and the ridge vents, also with vinyl siding. The fun part was cutting the whole in the roof and dealing with the shingles so I will not have a leak. I did alot of online research before I did what I did. It seems to be working good so far. No link for the fan. Just went to the store and picked it up.