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I would like to get our attic insulated and install some kind of ventilation. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this? I think I want a solar powered vent. When the sun is out the metal roof pops and cracks as it expands and the heat builds up in the attic and radiates down through the ceiling.
I’m looking for a company or person I can call and talk to who has experience with both the insulating and ventilating.
We are in Hawaiian Shores.
TIA for any help you can share.
Jon
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Jon
We live in Hawaiian Shores Rec in a new home (probably near you) - steel roof that snaps, pops, crackles when heating and cooling, no insulation. Lot was pretty much dozed bare - no shade trees near the house. On the warmer days the heat in the attic does radiate down into the interior spaces. We are contemplating installing (probably self-install) R-30 faced batt insulation where possible (vaulted ceiling over kitchen/dining/living/great room - not enough room to move about easily up there). We also purchased two (on sales person recommendation based on sq ft of home and floor plan) solar roof vents. We chose to self-install and save several hundred $$. My partner (the mechanically skilled one) after much consideration finally cut about an 18" hole in the steel roof to install the unit. Nothing like cutting a hole in your roof and having some rain clouds roll in! Not nearly as easy as the sales person suggested it would be to do either. The ensuing opening provided a serious blast furnace to work in. He prevailed and many hours later the one unit was installed and operating as advertised. Did we notice a difference? We would like to believe we did, however, since he has not tackled the second unit to complete the recommended ventilation the one is probably not sufficient to drop the interior temperature as dramatically as the sales person said it would. We are so far ok and happy with the one unit and look forward to having the second one in place before the warmer weather returns and perhaps enhance that with attic space insulation. If you find someone/company experienced and affordable for insulation install please post or email us. Thanks. Good luck.
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Thank you, Lokahi
Where did you purchase your solar powered roof vents? I am concerned about cutting a whole (or two) in our roof. I am handy to a degree but I feel like I would want someone with more experience than I to install the vent(s). I'm also not looking forward to crawling up in the attic to lay down insulation and am hopefull we can find someone to do the instalation for us.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again.
Jon
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I had a solar powered vent installed in my house in Nanawale. Send me an email, Jon, and I'll give you the name/number of the guy that did it for me.
John Dirgo, R, ABR, e-PRO
Aloha Coast Realty, LLC
808-987-9243 cell
http://www.alohacoastrealty.com
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Thanks, John. Email sent.
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We had ours installed by Solar Aide (Shipman Industrial). They installed it well (including the custom flashing that matched the color of our metal roof.
There is a state credit for the installation (a few hundred) that help defray the cost.
It's working well for us.
BTW - It will not help much with the popping/cracking sounds as those will come with the expansion and contraction of the roof as it heats/cools. If that is also a concern, installing the fiberglass batts will help dampen the sound.
Noel
http://HiloParadise.com
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Thank you all!
Noel, did you purchase the unit from Solar Aide? I'll have a look for them in the phone book.
I'm not too concerned about the sound of the roof expanding. It's a warning at this point that it's getting to be time to get out of the house[
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Does anyone have any ideas of where I might find someone to do installation of insulation in the attic?
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Put the vents in first and see if the popping noises go away. If the attic is ventilated enough that might fix th problem. Our roof will very rarely make a popping noise and it is an old tin roof. There isn't any insulation but there is a lot of ventilation which is what keeps it from popping. It is a dark green roof so it get real hot but the heat doesn't come down since it all goes out the cracks up by the ridge line. This house was built before they had that insulation to fit in between the ridges of iron roofs.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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Just how effective are these solar vents in reducing indoor temperature? My house gets unbearably hot during the summer. I've measured temps over 90 degrees. I was thinking about getting those mushroom type vents that spin without any solar power. Has anyone tried those? I've seen a few houses with this type of vent. I've also seen some houses that have a little houselike structure on top of the roof just for ventilation.
