The furnace has been hammering away and I can’t seem to find any significant heat leaks. The temp outside is pretty miserable either the weatherman owes us some tempurature (he keeps talking about minus stuff before saying a number) or we have no tempurature at all, nothing, zero in fact.
However I looked on my roof and noted that there isn’t any snow on it. Now granted that’s the south facing roof and it’s a 27/12 pitch but no snow? all my neighbors with 6/12 pitch roofs and 8/12 pitch roofs have some snow on their roof.. Why would mother nature pick on me?
Now my insulation is an R 50 and over on the North side and west side I get to keep some snow on the roof. So is the lack of roof snow an indicator or just solar gain?
Replies
metal roof?
dnf,
Hand split cedar shakes
I would take a piece of plywood and set it outside in the shade at a 67º pitch the next time they're calling for snow and see if the snow falls off.
I think 27/12 is probably steeper than the angle of repose for snow on shakes.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Jon,
the North side is holding snow..
Oh, I guess I should read the whole post next time before posting.Is that roof SIP or stick frame with insulation?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Jon,
SIP roof R 50
Misspent youth?
Disgruntled City employees bent on a "told'ya so!"?
Getting "drifts" under the edges of the roof? That might indicate "slide off."
27/12 pitch says to me that you're heating a lot of would-be attic. That ceiling is dramatic to look at but costs a bundle to heat.
You may need a "Forrest Approved" heat sock.
Liberty = Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
American Heritage Dictionary
I would venture a guess that the problem can be traced back to the brand of shellac you used.
Happy holidays
Regarding the radiant heat gain on the south side....I was shingling my southern roof (12:12) the other day when it was around zero degrees. There was a thin layer of ice on the roof that I could not scrape off. When I put on the tar paper, the radiant energy was enough to melt that ice within a short while, it would run down the roof and through cracks in the roof sheathing. I had rows of miniature icicles inside the house that morning. So in my opinion, the radiant energy is making your snow disappear.
Solar gain.
Prevailing winds.
You aren't going to lose more heat out of one side of the roof then the other if they were built the same.
dovetail,
They were built the same but the prevailing winds put this side of the roof on the lee side.
Another thought...yesterday afternoon around 1pm a cold front came through town, and the wind picked up to 30 or 40mph for a while. I was at a meeting at a water treatment plant in New Brighton right then; when I came out after the meeting, a good portion of the snow on the roof of the building had blown off and was sitting on my car. Maybe whatever snow there was on your roof blew off at the same time.
Stuart,
this is the lee side of the roof, the windward side still has it's snow load.
Normally more snow will collect on the lee side, but the windward side will have snow driven into it, bonding much better. I've seen a inch of snow or more bonded to smooth vertical surfaces by the wind.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Did the same thing happen in previous winters? I know you're building as you go, taking your time, so maybe you shaked the roof this summer.
Where was the lee side of your house during that storm? Is the snow on the ground deeper on the lee side of your house?
Pierre1
No Thus Portion of the roof was finished well over 5 years ago.