Attic Cooler Than House

The third graph shows attic temperatures from the middle of the attic for several different types of roofing as well as a sealed attic.

Attic cooler than house. Which way does your house face. If you ve got an older home or poorly installed insulation there s a good chance upping your r value and air sealing in the attic will make your upstairs cooler and more comfortable in summer. But other factors impact this sort of thing too. Maybe but not always.

In summer the ideal is to have lots of air movement so the attic is as cool as possible. Attic fansare most effectiveduring the hottest part of the day and they are usually controlled by a timer thermostat 2 or humidistat. Regardless of what the insulation level is there will be some level of energy transfer from the warmer attic to the cooler house. So everything else being equal any house would benefit from a cooler attic.

The result is a cooler attic space with plenty of air exchange. Insulation can only slow and not stop the energy transfer. In contrast whole house fansare most effective in the cooler temperatures of the evening and early morning. In many houses it is impractical to increase the insulation in the attic.

Attic fans perform this ventilation by pushing hot air out into the environment while also pulling fresh cool air into the attic. The ideal temperature outside is at least 5 degrees fahrenheit below the desired indoor temperature.