Reduce Moisture In Attic
Sealing these can greatly reduce the moisture drivers.
Reduce moisture in attic. Once a week open your attic door and leave it open for several hours. If you live in a warmer climate you may want to air out your attic twice a week. So the first step is to seal the air leaks. Look for can lights gaps around boots into the space holes in walls between the attic and crawl space and the living space etc.
Regularly airing out your attic is a very simple and effective way to prevent the formation of attic moisture. Simply by sealing the various possible paths of air leakage already discussed infiltration will be reduced therefore restricting the movement of air and eliminating the stack effect. Here is a link to an article that describes the work. Air sealing an attic.
Open windows and use ceiling fans to keep the air circulating in your home and avoid stuffiness. Check seals sweeps weather stripping around doors and windows make an assessment if the equipment may be significantly oversized. Well you ve got to manage your moisture as you re well aware and the best way to do that in an attic is with a combination of roof vents. If your attic features a window open it as well.
After moisture penetration is controlled as best as possible the next approach to reducing attic moisture is by controlling air infiltration. During winter months humidity from this escaping air can condense on cold attic surfaces leading to mold. So they equalize pretty quickly. If you raise the attic temperature the rh in both places would be the same.
By adding moisture to the lower floor you increase the partial pressure of the water vapor which pushes it to areas of lower vapor pressure like the attic. The difference in the two spaces is the dry bulb temperature. Ventilating this space can also reduce heat that radiates up through the roof and down into the living areas of the home. High humidity in an attic is usually caused by air leaks in the ceiling of the top floor of your house.
Proper precaution in an uninsulated attic such as the department of energy s recommended r30 to r49 insulation for warm climates r30 to r60 for moderate climates and r49 to r60 for cold climates. You want to use a ridge vent that goes down the peak of the roof. The federal housing administration has recommendations for the amount of ventilation you will need based on the size of your home. Do you have a ridge vent right now.
These conditions prevent warm damp air from migrating to the attic in the first place. Right now we just have eave vents and gable vents.