Keyword Search

Found 122 results for the keyword(s) ‘Ventilation’

• Article

  HOW DO WINDOWS ACT AS A HUMIDITY ALARM?

  Much of this book has been concerned with controlling humidity in the house. A double-glazed window is a perfect alarm system to warn us of dangerous humidity conditions. A double-glazed window has just enough thermal insulation to allow comfort in the house without producing condensation on th...
• Article

  ROOF INSULATION

  When we talk about insulating roofs we are usually dealing with situations in which there is no attic: either it doesn't exist or it has been converted into heated living space. So, we are talking about cathedral ceilings, flat, and basin-type roofs. Cathedral roofs are slanted and drain l...
• Article

  WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR APPLYING INSULATION IN THE ATTIC?

  -- Take care of air barriers, ventilation and vapour barriers before insulating. Check out these three topics in the Search Tab above.-- Don't block the eave vents with insulation.-- Do cover the top of the outside wall.-- Don't put plastic foam on top of porous insulations (batts, loose fill) a...
• Article

  HOW DO I AVOID BLOCKING THE EVE VENTS WITH INSULATION?

  Blocking the eve vents with the insulation is one of the most common causes of moisture problems in attics. The insulation should extend over the top of the outer wall and stop short of the vents, not touching the roof in such a way as to block air passages from the vents into the attic.Batt...
• Article

  ATTICS

  Air leaks account for the greatest loss of heating dollars from Canadian homes. These are easily solved by sealing. The greatest conductive heat losses occur through the basement. Canadian basements typically lose more heat than ceilings because attics usually have a little insulation (eve...
• Article

  HOW CAN I VENTILATE INSULATED SUSPENDED CEILINGS?

  A common problem is found in B.C. when people pile lots of insulation into suspended ceilings below cold attics. Ventilating the space above the insulation to the outside can only be recommended if you have successfully made the suspended ceiling air-tight at the ceiling level. If anyone ha...
• Article

  SHOULD THE ATTIC BE VENTILATED IN THE SUMMER?

  Yes. The attic absorbs a great deal of heat from the sun during the summer and becomes much hotter than the rest of the house. The better your attic is insulated, the less this heat build-up will affect the temperature of the house. Venting the attic replaces this heated attic air with air...
• Article

  SHOULD I ADD VENTILATION TO A FLAT TOP OR BASIN TYPE ROOF?

  Be careful, we are still learning how to deal with these difficult structures after adding roof space insulation. The problem is that the air volume and its flat thin shape do not efficiently dry out the roof space as does the large vertical air space of a peaked roof.The cardinal rule is to ...
• Article

  CONFUSION: POWER ATTIC VENTILATORS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WINTER USE. WHY?

  The main reason for not recommending power vents in the attic is that the attic is usually not well sealed, and the power vent, in sucking air out of the attic, creates a negative pressure in the attic. This negative pressure sucks warm air and humidity through the ceiling leaks into the att...
• Article

  WHAT KIND OF ATTIC VENT IS BEST?

  Power vents and turbines are not a good idea in northern climate attics. (search keyword "attic" for the title " CONFUSION: POWER ATTIC VENTILATORS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WINTER USE. WHY?")That leaves gravity vents, vents that allow warm air in the attic to rise and escape out the top of t...