Does this sound like it would work (not factoring in any cost)? Remember its in Florida.
“I would lose the soffit and ridge vents and zip foam the bottom of the roof deck, the floor, and any framed area’s in the house. In Florida you want to keep the moisture out of the house not flowing through your attic. Plus you can then you uninsulated metal ducts in your house which is the only duct work that you can really clean and will not become a breeding ground for mold. Right now sheet metal is cheaper then fiberglass, it just takes a little more skill to install, but it is clean, contains no carcogenics and lasts almost forever.
consider using a 2 stage heat pump and nothing lasts near the water like an American Standard/ trane unit it is the only manufacture that makes an all aluminum condenser coil, not the aluminum fin copper coils condensers that start to corrode away the minute you first turn them on near the water.
Plus with a two stage unit you get the excellent dehumidfaction that we need down here, great energy savings, and you could use a zone damper system to cool the upstairs and the downstairs, with out over cooling the bottom floor ( heat rises).
Some people freak when I tell them to lose the vented attic, but there are several reason’s use it.
1. lower power bills by about 30%
2. you need less air conditioning tonnage
3. it makes for a cleaner home, if the dirty outside air can’t get in your attic, it can’t get into your house, my wife dusts about every three months instead of every three days.
4. its a lot harder to blow the roof off the house if the air can’t get in there in the first place, you place blocks in between the trusses, the top plate and the bottom of the roof deck then it gets sealed with foam
5. bugs don’t like a dry house, my humidity stays around 43 to 52%, less bugs less pesticides inside your home.
6. you can’t grow mold in a dry house.
7. install a fresh air ventilator and use rubber gasket-ed dampers on all your bath and exhausts vents and buy the fireplace with the glass doors.
8. the Florida Solar energy center and the American lung association recommend it.
It was also stated that his “attic” was only 8-10 degrees warmer than the house
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“Have you seen my baseball?”
Replies
This is a joke.. right?
Dead serious-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Have you seen my baseball?"
Get him/her a nice white jacket with the arms that tie in the back... he/she is dangerous. NO WAY that the Lung Association (even though they are full of feces, they aren't that stupid) reccomends that... anywhere... and especially in Florida.
That house will be infected with mold, might be a radon hazard waiting to happen, and will cost more in power than even imaginable.
Saw a house once that was made "airtight" by a diy'er. I saw it as it was being demolished. Family couldn't figure out why they were always sick. When the problem was discovered... it was too late to do remediation without ripping the thing apart and starting over.
I'm with Rich - Sounds like total B.S. to me
An unvented atic in Florida, and his "attic" was only 8-10 degrees warmer than the house ???
And how exactly would that keep the house cleaner?
Thats kind of why I was asking you guys. It didn't seem right to me either. Im not as familiar as all of you. But the whole construction, insulation and duct work stuff sounded strange.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Have you seen my baseball?"
I think he is referring to a "health house"... a new house project that is specifically designed to be airtight and compensates for the deficiencies of doing so.
This is FAR FAR FAR different from retrofitting a house that does not have the same design features.
Haven't researched enough to see how the house project tested out... but giving that advice for retrofitting an existing structure is downright wrong and irresponsible.
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/bldg/baihp/casestud/HH97/INDEX.HTM
Edited 3/3/2005 1:54 pm ET by Rich from Columbus
http://www.buildingscience.com/topten/south.htm
Number ONE in the list of the 10 dumest things to do in the south (building wise).
VENTED ATTICS AND VENTED CRAWLSPACES.
http://www.buildingscience.com/housesthatwork/default.htm
http://www.buildingscience.com/resources/roofs/default.htm
That is likely how I would do it.
The guys who think this is a joke have not lived or worked in the sunshine state to understand how the climate is different.
With everything insdide the conditioned space, you have total cobntrol of that environment.
Here in the north, we insulate from inside out, but in the cooling climates, you need to insulate from the outside in.
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