Welcome to my Homepage Blog. Here you'll find stories about inspections I have done and facts I think are interesting to share with you. Come back often to see what's new.
-Glenn Stewart, The House Whisperer
| The Fan That Couldn't |
| Written by Glenn Stewart |
| Monday, 12 October 2009 02:30 |
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During a recent Pleasanton home inspection, I spotted this creative solution for cooling the attic space. Yes... an oscillating fan typically used to move the air in a room for human comfort was hanging from the rafters under a roof vent opening. Think of what happens on a hot summer day when the sun is pounding relentlessly on your roof. The temperature of the shingles soars. They can easily approach a temperature of 150 F or possibly more. This heat then transfers to the roof-framing materials. I have measured wood surface temperatures of 140 F and air temperature up to 155 F in the attic, when the outside temperature was around 95 F. This was a sizeable attic space. It takes massive amounts of air moving through an attic to create significant cooling. A single 12" oscillating fan set to the stationary position has a negligible effect on attic cooling... it's a waste of electricity. Note the use of the orange extension cord. All oscillating fan manufacturers state in their installation instructions not to use an extension cord; and if you have to use an extension cord, it needs to meet wire size specifications for the length of the extension cord. Would your home inspector call out this condition in the inspection report? |
| Last Updated on Monday, 12 October 2009 23:22 |
