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3398 Washington Road
Atlanta, GA 30344
USA

773.398.5288

Advanced residential construction and home improvement consulting and owner's advocacy in Atlanta, using the latest building performance diagnostic and modeling techniques and tools. Airtightness, insulation, HVAC, ventilation, moisture, and air quality and EMF consulting for homeowners and building professionals alike.

Videos/Podcasts/Articles

Home performance articles and stories from the field with internationally respected building forensics guru Corbett Lunsford at the Building Performance Workshop. Hear new episodes of the Building Performance Podcast, see new videos from the Home Performance YouTube channel, and learn all about how diagnostic testing (more than an 'Energy Audit') can make home improvement and new home construction a proven process!

Filtering by Tag: hot

Uncomfortable Homes Explained: How Air Sealing, Insulation, HVAC and Thermal Mass Actually Works

Corbett Lunsford

From the upcoming Season Two of 'Home Diagnosis': through a 5-day recording of temperature, humidity, and dewpoint with a datalogger, see the actual performance curves of five built environments on our property. Watch the evolution of primitive to advanced built environments, from an open-air workshop to a lived-in high performance home- the effect of air sealing and insulation alone is pretty incredible when you see it like this.

Become a member and help support this show: http://patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

See more about Home Diagnosis TV series: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Comment
categories From the Field, Architecture, Homeowner education, Performance Pros, Testing Tools, Videos, Tiny Houses
tags thermodynamics, comfort, how to, test, measure, diagnose, diagnostic, consultant, heat, hot, cold, discomfort, too hot, too cold, drafts, insulate, insulation, diy, testing

#TinyLab in Death Valley: Proven Performance

Corbett Lunsford

See what the hottest place on Earth (Death Valley, with the world record 134ºF temperature) does to the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels. See proof that our airtightness, insulation, cooling, and ventilation works even where it's not designed to go.

Comment
categories Around the World, Homeowner education, Performance Pros, Real Estate, Tiny Houses, Videos
tags tiny house, tiny house on wheels, tiny house performance, home performance, comfort, desert, a/c, humidification, dehumidification, death valley, hot, tiny lab, building performance, insulation, airtight, construction, green, building

How to Fix Summertime Heat on Your Top Floor

Corbett Lunsford

Hi Corbett-
Finally, I have two solid quotes for air sealing. I have one new concern, however. My finished attic gets really hot in summer, and the A/C dedicated to this attic rarely is able to cool the space below 82 degrees.  From what I have read, besides implementing some kind of reflective roofing material, the only way to keep an attic cool is plenty of airflow.  So, if we air seal the attic and add insulation (which I have read holds and radiates heat in summer ?), is this air sealing initiative going to make my attic unlivable in the summer?
Thanks!
R.L.

Hey there R-
First thing to do is stop thinking about your top floor as an attic of any type.  Yes, it used to be an attic, but now it's supposed to be inside the enclosure, so let's call it what it is- your valuable living space.
Not only will airsealing NOT going to make your top floor (finished attic) hotter in summer, it is in fact the ONLY THING that will make it cooler up there.  What's happening is called reverse stack effect: your air conditioners are creating cooler, drier, DENSER air, which sinks to the bottom of the house. All the air conditioning wants to be in the bottom of the house at the same time, so it creates a higher pressure down there, and there's a low pressure at the top of the house.
The cool, heavy air escapes through gaps and cracks in the bottom of the house, and the house now needs air, so it breathes in at the most depressurized (and also hottest) place- at the very top.  So all the air that's in your top floor rooms is coming from the attic spaces and the roof cavity.
Lastly, it's a total myth that attic ventilation will keep an attic cool- #1, attic ventilation is actually for venting MOISTURE, not heat; and #2, you don't actually care how hot it gets in your attic, since it's not part of your house.  The roofing manufacturers used to void their warranties if the attic got too hot, but they don't do that anymore.  You're free!
For a more detailed look at attic airsealing, watch this:

Comment
categories Dear Corbett, Homeowner education, Videos
tags attic ventilation, finished attic, hot, unlivable, too hot, too humid, how do i, fix temperature, air conditioner, top floor, insulation, attic, air sealing, attic fan, solar attic fan, new home