June 22, 2009

            Dear Readers:  How hot is your attic?  We're coming into a time of year when it might be nice to know.   Excess attic heat can slowly leak through the bedroom ceiling after hot summer afternoons-and that's what keeps you tossing and turning all night.   Newer homes usually don't have enough fresh air flow through the their attic interiors.   Builders are often blamed when winter winds blow snow in through the vents, so they supply the bare minimum of vented openings-and they have a heavy snow screen on their undersides.  So, even though your attic is vented according to the code, it can  be unbearably hot up there-especially if you have a dark roof.  

            You can check this yourself with an inexpensive remote-sensing thermometer.  Put the sensor half way up in the attic air space (screw it to a truss, for example)-and take readings in the middle of the day.  If they are consistently over 120 degrees, you've got some work to do.  You can add passive ventilation:  gable vents, more roof vents, turbines, or a ridge event.  But my preference is mechanical ventilation.  A whole house fan is best-it cools the house and the attic at night--or you could install a simple,  powered attic vent fan in the roof or on one wall.   Either way, you'll get continuous cooling, which will drop that temperature maybe 20 degrees or more.  Each lower degree means lower cooling costs, and more longevity for your roof.

            By the way, any vents you add now can  be shrouded with heavy plastic in the fall to keep out the winter snows and retain some "free" solar heat gain.

            Yvonne also wants to keep cool:  I have a tri-level home and of course the bedrooms are hot.  I'm confused about the ceiling fans up there.  Blow up or blow down?

            In the summer they should blow air down towards the floor (usually rotating counterclockwise).  That will force that hot air back through the furnace's cold air return to be reconditioned by the A/System.  In the winter,  reverse the fans so that they wash warm ceiling air up, across and down over the colder walls and windows.   One other trick in a tri-level:  when you get home after work, turn the furnace fan on continuously so it mixes up the cooler air from the family room with the warm bedroom air -and that can lower the temperature of the whole house 5 degrees or more.

            Cheri has a mess:  Our back yard is mostly dirt and cockleburs.  Also, we have big dogs, and they are affected by all the mess.  We are thinking of concreting most of it.  What do you think?

            I think it'll be very expensive.  The guys will have to haul the concrete back there in wheelbarrows, and that will run up the cost big time.  Besides, concrete is quite permanent, and might not be the choice of a future buyer.  Why not consider one of two options:   You could spread a generous layer of fine pea gravel over the whole area  you're concerned about.  Or, checkout artificial turf.  It's no longer the ugly stuff you remember form the 80's.  Today's material is made of soft, plastic fibers that not only look real, but feel nearly like natural grass.  There's even a style with drain holes to let your dogs "do their thing".   In either case, at some future time, another owner can remove these improvements and revert to a regular yard.

            Anne is spring cleaning:  Do you know of a product I can use to remove grease from an old stove and hood?

            If the conventional grocery store-type products aren't getting the job done, try some ammonia and hot water, diluted half and half plus a few drops of dishwashing liquid thrown in as a wetting agent.  If that  doesn't get it done, try the big gun:  mineral spirits-what we used to call paint thinner.  Today's version is low odor, but take frequent breaks and ventilate anyway.  Also, remember that it's very flammable, so be careful