Whether you’re using your attic as a functional space, such as a bedroom or office, or using it as a place to store your belongings, you’re going to want a solution to cool down your attic and prevent heat from being too intrusive in your activities.
Why do attics get so hot?
Before we look at how to cool it down, it’s essential to understand how and why your attic is so hot in the first place.
Attics are naturally prone to overheating. As your attic is at the top of your house and heat rises, hot air will work its way up through your home before reaching its final destination. Combined with the fact that your attic rests under your roof, which will get a lot of contact from the sun on hot summer days, radiating through the tiles on the roof surface and transferring into the attic and creating a lot of hot air.
Ways to cool down your attic
There are various methods to keep your attic cool and make it more energy-efficient.
Insulation
Insulation acts as an effective barrier against temperature extremes, making it a helpful method of keeping the heat out of your attic. It is also advantageous to keep the cold out and the heat in during the winter.
You want high-quality insulation in your attic, as it will ensure that the cool air can’t escape your home. A lot of attic boarding squashes insulation, preventing it from working effectively. Raised attic boarding is a perfect solution to help protect your insulation by providing an air gap between the floor boarding and the insulation to prevent compression. This raised StoreFloor boarding will allow your insulation to retain its full depth and work properly, keeping your attic cool.
Install an Air conditioning Unit
Air conditioning is a cheap and sufficient way to keep your attic cool, especially if it is a more functional room used regularly. AC will keep the temperature at a constant, comfortable level.
You can simply plug the appliance into an outlet in the wall to cool the area quickly and effectively. An AC unit will require proper ventilation to pump the hot air outside and cool your attic, either through a window or soffit.
Ventilation
Vents and exhausts in your attic are a great way to prevent stagnant hot air from causing your attic to overheat. Various vent types can allow the airflow to push out the hot air and keep your attic cool.
The most popular are intake vents installed under your roof’s overhang, where it is out of sight and protected from the weather.
Skylights/windows
A window can also act as a vent to the outside, allowing the hot, stuffy air to leave the house efficiently. If you’re considering this option, an effective method is to place windows on opposite sides of the attic room to create airflow and cool down your attic during hot days.
You can also get blackout blinds for these windows to block sunlight and provide essential shade in the room to reduce heat.
Seal the gaps
Any cracks or holes in your attic space will allow the hot outside air to seep in. Not to mention it puts you at risk of water damage. Weatherproof caulk is a cheap option to plug these holes and ensure your attic isn’t leaking or letting in air.
Reflective roofing
Rather than cooling your attic down, reflective roofing is a good way of preventing the attic from getting hot in the first place. The heat from the sun shining on your home is absorbed through the roof, causing the attic to overheat. A reflective roof will deflect these rays away, stopping it from getting too hot.
Some of these methods homeowners can do themselves while others may be more complex and costly, requiring professional assistance.
Depending on how hot your attic gets and what you use it for may dictate how serious you want to be using some of these methods; however, all should effectively reduce heat and keep your attic cool, even in the summer.
Get in touch with a member of the team to see how we can assist in helping keep your attic cool, making it a comfortable and efficient space.