1
Warning: my attic vent project made my energy bill go up $40
I spent last weekend installing those fancy ridge vents on my 1950s bungalow near Portland. Thought I was being smart letting all that hot air escape. Turns out my insulation was laid right over the soffit vents I already had, and the new ridge vents just pulled conditioned air straight out of my living space. My electric bill jumped $40 in July alone. Did I mess up the airflow balance completely? Has anyone else dealt with unintended consequences from attic ventilation?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
camerona791mo ago
...and that's exactly what happens when you mess with the stack effect in an old house like that. I've seen it a bunch of times where people add ridge vents without checking if their soffits are actually clear, and then the whole attic becomes a giant vacuum cleaner sucking air from the rooms below. Your insulation laying right over the soffits basically sealed the intake side, so the ridge vents just pulled warm air from your living space instead of from outside. A buddy of mine had the same thing happen up in Seattle, his bill went up almost $50 before he realized his blown-in insulation was blocking the soffit baffles. You gotta go up there and pull that insulation back from the eaves, maybe install some cardboard baffles to keep it from shifting again.
6
nora5351mo ago
Did you try using a leaf blower to clear the soffits before crawling into the attic?
3