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leaning · 03-26-14, 07:28 PM

Hello!

I having been lurking for awhile, but I figure I'm going to stick my neck out there and see what happens:

Stats:
House in NW GA. 1 story, brick exterior, crawlspace, and attic that is 1/2 finished and 1/2 not. We like to keep 1st story at 69F year round. Attic gets up to 120F in summer. Crawlspace stays at 60F with high humidity and some mold (!)

Projects:
1) We have a company coming that is going to do the attic and crawlspace:

a) Attic : General air sealing (reduce air leakage from living space by seal/insulate recessed lights, seal/insulate attic access door, seal major attic bypasses. Seal chaises, top plates as needed, sealing around light fixtures, electrical penetrations, caulking door frames or window frames that may leak, etc.).
b) Attic: Fiberglass insulation 10" (open blow): place tape measures thru out attic that will remain in attic. L77 encapsulated pro pink fiberglass, Certainteed
c) Attic knee walls: Add Foam (high density) & 1'' Polyiso - Rigid Board
d) Attic: Vent & Insulate existing two bathroom exhaust fans through roof (vice to attic space)
e) Crawlspace: 1.5" Closed cell foam on Crawlspace walls
f) Crawlspace: Encapsulate rim joists with 2” Foam (high density)
g) Crawlspace: 12 mil Duraskrim liner Waterproof/Vapor Barrier

2) Door blower test showed our house is "too tight", so I installed a passive air intake (backflow flap, filter, damper pipe) going to HVAC intake. http://contractingbusiness.com/site-...0000053450.gif

3) Attic has exhaust fan that turns on at approx 100F and runs all the time in summer.

4) Crawlspace vents are shut and sealed.

Thoughts I would appreciate feedback on:

1) Attic gets way too hot and crawlspace is way too cold and moldy. Maybe I can run a pipe with fan to suck air from attic and send it to crawlspace. Makeup air to attic from soffit vents and gable vent. Excess air in crawlspace out CS vent hole in other side of house farthest from fan.

2) Use radiant barrier in attic attached to roof joists. This would reduce temp in attic, so making insulating attic floor not so necessary. Company doing attic work doesn't like whole radiant barrier thing. Says that with reflectics there is little reduction in temperature, and they have gone back and replaced/removed several of these systems from houses over the years, and not to waste money on those.

3) We seriously would like to take advantage of the hot attic (in the wintertime) and the cold crawlspace (in the summertime). That's some good temperature air that it we could be filtering and using in the living space and turn off the air conditioner and heater to save money.

Interested in everyone's thoughts and ideas.

Regards,

Leaning

03-26-14, 07:28 PM	#1
leaning Lurking Renovator Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Trenton, GA Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Using attic heat and crawlspace cool. Hello! I having been lurking for awhile, but I figure I'm going to stick my neck out there and see what happens: Stats: House in NW GA. 1 story, brick exterior, crawlspace, and attic that is 1/2 finished and 1/2 not. We like to keep 1st story at 69F year round. Attic gets up to 120F in summer. Crawlspace stays at 60F with high humidity and some mold (!) Projects: 1) We have a company coming that is going to do the attic and crawlspace: a) Attic : General air sealing (reduce air leakage from living space by seal/insulate recessed lights, seal/insulate attic access door, seal major attic bypasses. Seal chaises, top plates as needed, sealing around light fixtures, electrical penetrations, caulking door frames or window frames that may leak, etc.). b) Attic: Fiberglass insulation 10" (open blow): place tape measures thru out attic that will remain in attic. L77 encapsulated pro pink fiberglass, Certainteed c) Attic knee walls: Add Foam (high density) & 1'' Polyiso - Rigid Board d) Attic: Vent & Insulate existing two bathroom exhaust fans through roof (vice to attic space) e) Crawlspace: 1.5" Closed cell foam on Crawlspace walls f) Crawlspace: Encapsulate rim joists with 2” Foam (high density) g) Crawlspace: 12 mil Duraskrim liner Waterproof/Vapor Barrier 2) Door blower test showed our house is "too tight", so I installed a passive air intake (backflow flap, filter, damper pipe) going to HVAC intake. http://contractingbusiness.com/site-...0000053450.gif 3) Attic has exhaust fan that turns on at approx 100F and runs all the time in summer. 4) Crawlspace vents are shut and sealed. Thoughts I would appreciate feedback on: 1) Attic gets way too hot and crawlspace is way too cold and moldy. Maybe I can run a pipe with fan to suck air from attic and send it to crawlspace. Makeup air to attic from soffit vents and gable vent. Excess air in crawlspace out CS vent hole in other side of house farthest from fan. 2) Use radiant barrier in attic attached to roof joists. This would reduce temp in attic, so making insulating attic floor not so necessary. Company doing attic work doesn't like whole radiant barrier thing. Says that with reflectics there is little reduction in temperature, and they have gone back and replaced/removed several of these systems from houses over the years, and not to waste money on those. 3) We seriously would like to take advantage of the hot attic (in the wintertime) and the cold crawlspace (in the summertime). That's some good temperature air that it we could be filtering and using in the living space and turn off the air conditioner and heater to save money. Interested in everyone's thoughts and ideas. Regards, Leaning