Radiant Barrier on One Story?

[03mustangdude]

Always do Solar powered vents and get tax incentives.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/US-Sunlight-Professional-Series-30-Watt-Solar-Powered-Roof-Attic-Fan-9930TR/204340563?N=5yc1vZc662#customer_reviews

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/i...ive_Code=US37F

how hard is it to install something like that? diy or pro?

[snacksnack]

DIY. Super easy as long as your roof isn't to steep that you aren't always sliding.

[Dinger]

House was built in 1978. Has a trane 13 sear ac system from 2007 to 2008. The attic doesn't have much imsulation, likely about 3 or so inches. Maybe I should just hose the attic to get it up to 14 plus inches of insulation for a cheap method

Not sure if someone else posted this but check out the Take a load off texas thing that Oncor is doing. (house must be all electric)

I just had my insulation done when they came out to do it they rated it at 4" of R22 and after they finished it was 30" of R30 (I dont know what the numbers mean but there is a shit ton of insulation up there now) They did this at no cost to me.. Oncor pays it.


The guy I used name was Kenny from 1st Green Solutions and his number is 1-817-609-0708

[Sean88gt]

Things I miss about Colorado, our energy costs were extremely low.

But then again, building a house to survive winter is more efficient than building one in Texas.

[Jewrrick]

Not sure if someone else posted this but check out the Take a load off texas thing that Oncor is doing. (house must be all electric)

I just had my insulation done when they came out to do it they rated it at 4" of R22 and after they finished it was 30" of R30 (I dont know what the numbers mean but there is a shit ton of insulation up there now) They did this at no cost to me.. Oncor pays it.


The guy I used name was Kenny from 1st Green Solutions and his number is 1-817-609-0708

i did this as well, makes a HUGE difference. I had a spot in my attic where there was ZERO insulation lol and the most was 5-6 inches.

[32vfromhell]

Not sure if someone else posted this but check out the Take a load off texas thing that Oncor is doing. (house must be all electric)

I just had my insulation done when they came out to do it they rated it at 4" of R22 and after they finished it was 30" of R30 (I dont know what the numbers mean but there is a shit ton of insulation up there now) They did this at no cost to me.. Oncor pays it.


The guy I used name was Kenny from 1st Green Solutions and his number is 1-817-609-0708

thats amazing! I am looking at the program website now. I'll have to give Kenny a call this evening.

[yellowstang]

Those solar powered vents will only work well (as will any vent) if there are proper soffit vents on the house too. If it tries to pull too much air out, and the soffit vents can't supply enough, it will try and pull it from the house. The air going into the attic as well as going out has to be balanced to work with each other.

[Dinger]

thats amazing! I am looking at the program website now. I'll have to give Kenny a call this evening.

They also do things like weather stripping doors and windows and such.. we had that done in 2012 by another company and they said they would do the insulation but never came back.. Kenny hooked me up and did a great job!

[beefed88]

Always do Solar powered vents and get tax incentives.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/US-Sunlight-Professional-Series-30-Watt-Solar-Powered-Roof-Attic-Fan-9930TR/204340563?N=5yc1vZc662#customer_reviews

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/i...ive_Code=US37F

http://www.costco.com/.product.100035442.html

just in case someone is interested. normal lifetime return policy.

[8mpg]

Those solar powered vents will only work well (as will any vent) if there are proper soffit vents on the house too. If it tries to pull too much air out, and the soffit vents can't supply enough, it will try and pull it from the house. The air going into the attic as well as going out has to be balanced to work with each other.

that is the key.... Ridge vents or solar vents really need the soffit vents to allow it to have airflow. Some houses these days are going with perforated hardie soffit rather than vents so you have continuous venting through all of the soffits.

All in all though...if the wind aint blowing the standard turbine vents on the top wont do crap.

[Lone Sailor]

that is the key.... Ridge vents or solar vents really need the soffit vents to allow it to have airflow. Some houses these days are going with perforated hardie soffit rather than vents so you have continuous venting through all of the soffits.



All in all though...if the wind aint blowing the standard turbine vents on the top wont do crap.

Unless you have an attic fan.

[GasHuffinKustoms]

Whirlybirds and insulation make all the difference in the world. I work for an A/C company and just moved into an older house and had my guys come over and spray 15 in and install two whirlybirds. First electric bill I had before the work was $300 and after the work it droped the bill down to $150.

[blownaltered]

Always do Solar powered vents and get tax incentives.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/US-Sunlight-Professional-Series-30-Watt-Solar-Powered-Roof-Attic-Fan-9930TR/204340563?N=5yc1vZc662#customer_reviews

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/i...ive_Code=US37F

You also get a vent that barely works. Solar vents cost way to much for the amount of cfm they actually flow. At peek a solar vent will flow 700 cfm, where as a pro 3 power vent will flow 1300cfm and cost a third of the value. Now that is a solar vent at peek which doesn't happen everyday. If it is partly cloudy that solar vent might spin at 300 to 400 cfm and still be 100 degrees outside. Let not mention a cloudy day where they do nothing and its still hot outside. Also when they are installed they only get direct son for only a portion of the day so they only work at half pace as well. Solar vents are there to make people feel better about helping the environment but don't really do as much as you would think for cooling off a house. They aren't big sellers because of this and most roofing supply houses don't even stock them anymore. I will install them if people want them but there are better and cheaper options.

[32vfromhell]

Whirlybirds and insulation make all the difference in the world. I work for an A/C company and just moved into an older house and had my guys come over and spray 15 in and install two whirlybirds. First electric bill I had before the work was $300 and after the work it droped the bill down to $150.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have been speaking to the roofing company, and working with them to help identify the attic needs.

Its got a low pitch (5 3/4 i think) so not MUCH attic space, which is good. We are installing more low-profile vents than normal, and it has 18 soffit vents around the exterior of the roof. One of the recommendations would be to use compressed air to blast out any debris that are blocking the soffit vents to help pull in cool air, along with having plenty of insulation blown in, as right now its pretty dismal. I think i will see significant changes to my future AC bill with adding more roof venting, clearing out blockages to soffit vents, and blowing in more insulation.

[yellowstang]

You should also look into those baffles that cover the soffit vents to allow the air to flow freely, without the insulation building up and covering the vents up.