We have lived in our old two storey house for eight years now. Every year during the summer the heat builds up in the house throughout the day despite my efforts to block direct sunlight through windows and doors. Is there anything I can do short of installing an air conditioner?

Older houses are notorious for this summertime problem. Fortunately, there are things you can do that will decrease the discomfort of an uncomfortably warm house. Although this may seem odd, the first place to begin is in your attic.

Solar heat migrates into your house through poorly insulated walls, windows and doors. Due to a phenomenon best described as “the stack effect” this hot air accumulates under pressure on the ceiling of second floor.  This hot pressurized air builds downward through the lower levels of your house throughout the hot summer days and every evening you are stuck with a hot, pressurized house. The problem is aggravated by a daily build-up of heat in your attic from the sun’s solar radiation on your roofing materials.   Of course you can open second floor windows to release the hot pressurized air but this is not always practical or possible if you trying to reduce outside noise levels or you are away for the day.

This is where attic ventilation saves the day. When you increase your attic ventilation, you help release the hot, pressurized air from the sun on your roofing materials. Further, a well ventilated attic relieves some of the pressurized heat pushing through your highest ceiling. The most effective attic ventilation pulls outside air through lower soffit grills and allows that air to escape with hot attic air through top-of -roof vents and gable end vents. It is quite simple to install top-of-roof venting but it can be difficult to install soffit venting in an older home. If you can’t install soffit vents because your roof design isn’t cooperating, then I suggest that you install the largest gable end vents you can find as a supplement to your new top-of-roof venting.

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This article was written by Steven Cannon, a Registered Building Official and partner in Lynch Building Inspection Services Ltd. of Nelson, British Columbia. It originally appeared in The Nelson Express.

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