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Found 203 results for the keyword(s) ‘attic insulation’

• Article

  INSULATION

  We can't stop heat from escaping from the house by conduction, but we can effectively slow it down with thermal insulation. In practical terms, just about the only insulating material we work with is dead air. All the fibers, foams, beads, and batts are just different ways to package dead a...
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  DOES STYROFOAM ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE FORM A VAPOUR BARRIER?

  Styrofoam (which is actually a Dow Chemical brand name of extruded polystyrene) is a fairly good vapour barrier. It will not cause problems in the Canadian climate if you put on at least 1-1/2 inch thick and preferably in 2 ft. x 8 ft sheets applied horizontally. This actually permits some ...
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  HOW CAN I STOP CONDENSATION ON THE FLOOR HEADER BEHIND INSULATION?

  When fiberglass is pushed up into the space between the floor joists around the perimeter of the basement, condensation often builds up on the wood behind the fiberglass. This can be stopped by the addition of an air barrier -- as simple as Kraft paper or as complex as caulked polystyrene. In p...
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  WHY DO I HAVE FROST IN THE ATTIC?

  Frost in the attic is no different than anywhere else. It is caused by warm moist air coming into contact with cold surfaces and dropping its moisture. The problem in attics is primarily one of quantity; in one house frost accumulations of up to fifteen hundred pounds were discovered one co...
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  HOW CAN I VENTILATE INSULATED SUSPENDED CEILINGS?

  A common problem is found in B.C. when people pile lots of insulation into suspended ceilings below cold attics. Ventilating the space above the insulation to the outside can only be recommended if you have successfully made the suspended ceiling air-tight at the ceiling level. If anyone ha...
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  SHOULD THE ATTIC BE VENTILATED IN THE SUMMER?

  Yes. The attic absorbs a great deal of heat from the sun during the summer and becomes much hotter than the rest of the house. The better your attic is insulated, the less this heat build-up will affect the temperature of the house. Venting the attic replaces this heated attic air with air...
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  CONFUSION: POWER ATTIC VENTILATORS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WINTER USE. WHY?

  The main reason for not recommending power vents in the attic is that the attic is usually not well sealed, and the power vent, in sucking air out of the attic, creates a negative pressure in the attic. This negative pressure sucks warm air and humidity through the ceiling leaks into the att...
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  WHAT KIND OF ATTIC VENT IS BEST?

  Power vents and turbines are not a good idea in northern climate attics. (search keyword "attic" for the title " CONFUSION: POWER ATTIC VENTILATORS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WINTER USE. WHY?")That leaves gravity vents, vents that allow warm air in the attic to rise and escape out the top of t...
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  MYTH: THE MORE ATTIC VENTILATION IN WINTER THE BETTER.

  Not true for all parts of Canada!In certain regions (most of the data is from the National Research Council in the Saskatoon area) it appears that the only effective way to stop continuous accumulation of frost in the attic is to not ventilate at all during the worst of winter, but to seal the...
• Article

  Dripping bathroom fan

  Paul from Ajax, Ontario writes:Two years ago I had a ceiling ventilator fan with lights installed in the bathroom. During a very cold spell, water was dripping from the reflector into the bath tub. It has a 4" aluminum flexible pipe connected from the discharge opening into the attic straigh...