How to Fix Attic Condensation Problems: Personal Experience
Did you know that attic condensation left unchecked may increase your energy bills as well as cause damage to your home? The condensation may damage your attic’s insulation, thereby reducing its efficiency. It may also cause mold, rotten wood, attract insects and damage sheetrock. Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do in order to reduce attic condensation. Here they are:
1. Install Passive Ventilation
In order to correct attic condensation issues in our home, we installed a new wind turbine vent, a penthouse louver, soffit vents and a ridge vent in our roof. It also helped to reduce our cooling costs in the summer by about 10%. We installed the vents ourselves, but you may want to hire an outside contractor. A wind turbine vent will run you roughly $35. Basic soffit, ridge and louver vents tend to cost $15 or less each. You can typically purchase the vents through most home improvement stores.
2. Clip Roofing Nail Extensions
We also went ahead and used a pair of metal snips to cut off some of the roofing nail extensions that were sticking out of the attic’s ceiling. This helped with several issues. It reduced the amount of water that was able to leak into the attic via the nail extensions. It also made it easier to move around in the attic without having to worry about accidently running into a nail. The flexible tubing for our central air conditioning unit also runs through the attic, so it helped reduce the chances of accidentally catching a piece of tubing on a nail extension as well.
3. Install Powered Ventilation
Some folks may opt to purchase powered roof vents. In my opinion, these tend to work well if you need continuous circulation in order to keep your home’s attic condensation free. In my opinion, they are more expensive than passive roof vents. In most cases, a powered air vent will cost you $140 or more, not counting the extra electric needed to operate it each month.
4. Install Ceiling Fans
In our previous home, we had a finished attic and used both a ceiling fan and a powered air vent to keep it condensation free. Even though it did keep the moisture out of the attic, it also raised our electric bill because we had to keep it running continuously. In my experience, a basic ceiling fan and light ensemble will lighten your wallet by about $100.
5. Replace Insulation
Depending on how much damage the condensation in your home’s attic has caused, you may want to go ahead and replace the insulation. Insulating any duct work in the attic and waterproofing the exposed wood is also a good idea. However, before you waterproof the wood, check for peeling paint, rot and other issues that may need to be addressed first. In our home, we ended up replacing the insulation ourselves. We used rolled insulation for the floor and purchased flexible ductwork with the insulation already attached. On average, attic insulation will cost you $37 or more depending on the amount needed.
6. Re-Route Exhaust Fans
Re-routing exhaust fans from your home appliances and bathroom also helps to reduce attic condensation. In our home, all of our exhaust fans were already vented to the outside so we did not have to worry about that as much. If the ones in your home are vented into the attic, you may want to consider re-routing them to the outside.
Killeen Gonzalez has a history of completing home improvement projects with her family.
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