Attic Is Cold In An Old House

Don t avoid ventilating your attic for fear you re letting cold air into the house.

Attic is cold in an old house.

As mentioned most heat loss is typically through the roof. If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the manufacturer s warranty. A ridge and soffit ventilation system an extra 200 during reroofing will reduce attic temperature to around 100 degrees. If the attic is unfinished the insulation should be installed on the floor.

Also make sure your attic is ventilated. Your actual living space is sealed and insulated at the attic floor the attic is outside this envelope. Taking advantage of this natural process referred to as passive ventilation is the most common way to vent an. The insulation materials used in older houses are not as effective in keeping heat in as the new ones.

The majority of heat loss and gain occurs in your attic. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape. Since warm air has a tendency to rise and cool air to fall insulating the attic is the place to start. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.

Gable vents around 25 each plus 75 per vent for labor can lower attic temperatures about 10 degrees. Due to your attic s location at the top of your house it can be a major location for energy loss especially if you lack sufficient insulation. This answer will vary from old house to old house. By chris deziel it may seem incongruous to allow cold air into your attic in the middle of winter but attic venting is an important climatic control that protects your house from moisture rot and.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. When reroofing use white or pale gray shingles instead of dark ones. Your actual living space is sealed and insulated at the attic floor the attic is outside this envelope. The insulation must meet doe standards.

If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the manufacturer s warranty. The answer to making an old house inhabitable is insulation. The attic is often the easiest place to add insulation. But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates.

Don t avoid ventilating your attic for fear you re letting cold air into the house. If you have an unfinished and unconditioned attic like many old houses my first recommendation would be to add batt insulation on the underside of the roof.