Wind blowing through strip vent
FWConstruction
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Have you run across a new home with too much soffit ventilation? This home is in Guilford, CT, on the ocean with multiple floors. They even added another boiler. On another similiar home I attached azak covers over the stip venting and it helped. The upper floor is the hardest hit. Insulation and windows have been checked over and over. Now homeowner is thinking about adding storm windows to a multi-million dollar home-crazy! What do you say-let me know. Thanks
Replies
No such thing as too much soffit ventilation. If you think you have an energy related problem related to too much soffit (i.e. attic) ventilation, there is something else going on. Maybe you have one serious air leak leading to the attic (e.g. pipe chase, flue chase, etc.) that has not been properly sealed.
Soffit venting is a function that [should be] outside of the thermal envelope and air barrier of the house.
This house needs a close look by an energy expert that can assess the current conditions and identify the problem. With all due respect, it sounds like you are floundering a bit in a panic over energy without really understanding what the problems or issues might be.
IMO the details of the thermal envelope of a multi-million dollar house should be rock solid, but maybe the focus was on 'other qualities'.
More information on the house would be helpful. Also, why are you in a panic over it ... i.e. what prompted all this frenzy over 'solving a problem'? Lack of comfort? Wind whistling through the house? Outrageously high energy bills?
The home is only 4 years old, and the homeowners are tierd of not being able to feel comfortable on the ocean side of the house, like the master suite on third floor. I understand what you are saying about the thermal blanket and that could be a lot of the problem. What type of material would be used for air barrier?
100% agree with clewless ( BTW, his experience in this type subject matter is extensive, in spite of his screen name)
Something is wrong with the way this place was built or designed.
I suspect poor sealing of the thermal envelope for low pressure caused by the venting system to be genrating drafts and cold inside the living space.
Also, a water front property generally has a lot of windows to provide view. But windows are far less of a thermal barrier than the rest of the wall normally, so even if they are well sealed against infiltration, there will be large loss of BTUs along that wall, something that the heating engineer should know and accommodate for.
Best of luck with the house and with this forum format.
Many of the knowledgeable folk have migrated to
http://forums.delphiforums.com/breaktimeclass/start
Air barriers can include a variety of things. On walls, it could be e.g. Tyvek or simply the wall sheathing. In an attic, it is often the ceiling (drywall); many consider this a problem in that air allowed to freely penetrate the insulation in an open attic is detrimental. It is arguable how much that may happen. Also included with the air barrier is caulking ... e.g. bottom plate of the wall,around doors/windows, penetrations of the envelope (e.g. piping, conduit, wires). Penetrations can include piping and wires and flues going through interior partitions into the attic. These are significant sources of air leakage that many lay people would not think about.
It sounds like air leakage is a significant problem the way you are describing it. Possible a significant leak in the attic, but that is just conjecture. I agree w/ the previous poster ... get an energy sleuth in there to check it out and inspect the house and identify the likely problem. An expensive house along the coast should have had special attention paid to sealing air leaks.
edit ... Actually, I'd start simple and gather all energy use records for the house in the last 4 years and I would analyze that to see if the 'gas mileage' was off the charts or not. That would hint at the existence of problems. THEN I would get agressive w/ an inspection.
Quit grasping at straws with changes if you don't know if there is a problem.
A $1,000,000 home that's only
A $1,000,000 home that's only 4 years old and the owners have never been warm on the most important side?
Tell them to (1) contact their attorney and have him start kicking ass on the builder, GC, subs, anyone connected with construction of the house; and (2) get an independent qualified H&C engineer in to perform a full inspection of the place. Who were the architects? Have they been contacted?
A thorough inspection is the first necessity to find out what's wrong and the scope of the problem. It may be a myriad of problems leading to poor environmental integrity as a result of compromised bulding practices or one or two major problems that are creating a huge heat loss.
In any event, on a house this considerable, first get professional advice about what's wrong. If you don't know what's wrong, you can't fix it.