[George Bieniaszek]

Originally Posted by tuccillo

Regarding the styrofoam panels for your garage door, did you get the 2" thick 4'x8' pieces or the 3/4" thick 4'x8' pieces? Any words of advice on installing them? Thanks.

I purchased the 3/4" 4'x8' panels. There is approx. a 1.5 inch gap that you can double up and fit the panels in. I used a razor knife, black marker and a 4' level and cut the panels to fit. I removed the horizontal hurricane reinforcement panels and fit the Styrofoam panels in and then reinstalled the hurricane panels. Snug fit and looks great.

Take your time, measure twice and cut once

Good luck, total cost under $100.

[DangeloInspections]

This thread is going all over the place.

A few comments....

Insulating Garage doors- A few options.
1) Some folks have a "bubble wrap" type product installed. I am not a big fan of this method.

2) Some folks go to a big box store and buy the styrofoam or Thermax type panels, cut them and install them.

3) Ro-Mac sells the insulation kits made by Clo-pay, the company who makes your garage door. The R-value here is about 6.2 It does help insulate against the radiant heat and will keep your unconditioned garage cooler.

Cracking your attic pull down stairs-

Will it be a fire hazard? Well, strictly speaking, yes. Understand though that on the homes that have a gas furnace, there is already a air grate in the ceiling, so your ceiling no longer has a fire rating at that point anyway. And those attic stairs most always are only 1/4 inch plywood, which has almost no fire rating anyway.

Understand that garage ventilation and attic ventilation are entirely different subjects.

[tuccillo]

Thank you so much for the info and advice - this is exactly what I need to do.

Originally Posted by George Bieniaszek

I purchased the 3/4" 4'x8' panels. There is approx. a 1.5 inch gap that you can double up and fit the panels in. I used a razor knife, black marker and a 4' level and cut the panels to fit. I removed the horizontal hurricane reinforcement panels and fit the Styrofoam panels in and then reinstalled the hurricane panels. Snug fit and looks great.

Take your time, measure twice and cut once

Good luck, total cost under $100.

[rjm1cc]

Good discussion. I think no fan as the house was designed not to need one. I do have the reflective material on the roof plywood. I think a vent in the garage ceiling is a good idea and would reduce the garage temp a little. Have not done this but am tracking temperatures in the garage to see if it pays to add any insulation to the door and then will test the ceiling vent.

[karostay]

Has anyone with a real whole house attic fan not that solar version
notice any advantages ?

[yabbadu]

What is the payback time in electric costs if you pay $500.00 plus for these attic fans. Sales people them cannot give a specific reply. If you only reduce the attic temp by 10-15 degrees for the hottest part of the day, then much will one save on electric cost for that part of the day! How do you calculate that ? How many special fans are on the 50,000 plus homes in the villages? When look at the entire State of Florida, I wonder how may have special venting other than what the home is built with!

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by yabbadu

What is the payback time in electric costs if you pay $500.00 plus for these attic fans. Sales people them cannot give a specific reply. If you only reduce the attic temp by 10-15 degrees for the hottest part of the day, then much will one save on electric cost for that part of the day! How do you calculate that ? How many special fans are on the 50,000 plus homes in the villages? When look at the entire State of Florida, I wonder how may have special venting other than what the home is built with!

Who is paying $500? Installed they run half of that.

[ricthemic]

Originally Posted by davefin

Coming from NJ. Purchasing new in Hillsborough section. While driving around the Villages during my last trip here I note that many homed have power vents installed in the roofs. Some had as many as four vents. Could someone inform me if they are worth installing. Do they really remove heat from the home? Are the worth the money?

Thank you in advance for answers to my question. Looking forward to living here. Closing on September 19.

Last week on an internet village news site they showed the firemen on top of a roof inspecting the spot where lightning had struck. In the picture right where they were you could see a metal roof top exhaust fan.
IMO living in the lightning capital I am not going to install metal objects on my roof

[tommy steam]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

This thread is going all over the place.

A few comments....

Insulating Garage doors- A few options.
1) Some folks have a "bubble wrap" type product installed. I am not a big fan of this method.

2) Some folks go to a big box store and buy the styrofoam or Thermax type panels, cut them and install them.

3) Ro-Mac sells the insulation kits made by Clo-pay, the company who makes your garage door. The R-value here is about 6.2 It does help insulate against the radiant heat and will keep your unconditioned garage cooler.

Cracking your attic pull down stairs-

Will it be a fire hazard? Well, strictly speaking, yes. Understand though that on the homes that have a gas furnace, there is already a air grate in the ceiling, so your ceiling no longer has a fire rating at that point anyway. And those attic stairs most always are only 1/4 inch plywood, which has almost no fire rating anyway.

Understand that garage ventilation and attic ventilation are entirely different subjects.

If you decide to use the insulation kit from Ro-Mac and you have a two car garage , you may have to have the springs in the door reset for that bit of extra weight. I got this information from Ro-Mac the other day. I think they quoted me a price for an 18 x7 door ,insulation kit installed and door adjusted for around $370.

[mert1506]

Solar fan in roof.

[yabbadu]

Originally Posted by dbussone

Who is paying $500? Installed they run half of that.

Where? Who? How Much? I have never found one quote under $500!

Care to respond to my other questions or only the cost of fan. Please read entire post!

[elbear]

Originally Posted by George Bieniaszek

We have a CYV and decided to install a solar attic fan to vent the hot air. I believe that it helps cool the house some and make the Air Conditioning bills a little lower.

One thing I did to my garage was to install Styrofoam panels on my garage doors. We have west facing garage doors and the sun blasts them all afternoon which heated up the garage. With the washer/dryer in there, it was uncomfortable to wash clothes or putter around in the garage. The panels noticeably reduced the heat in there. Bought the panels from Lowe's and it was an easy 2-3 hour DIY project. It also reduced the noise when the doors open and close.

I thought styrofoam was highly flammable?

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[KeepingItReal]

Originally Posted by GuardMeNathan

They are certainly worth it for anyone wanting to prevent an attic fire to the person who just has pity for the poor contractor who will eventually have to go up there.

Attic fire?? From what??

My mother has an AC roof vent and I have replaced the motor numerous times as they wear out fairly quickly, this would be the source of a fire if it binds up and overheats... Motor has to be ordered and then installed each time it goes.


Did you read this link in a previous post?

Don't Let Your Attic Suck | The ASHI Reporter | Inspection News & Views from the American Society of Home Inspectors

In other words, don't install that power attic ventilator. If you have some installed already, disable them so they never run.
Power attic ventilators can cause problems even without air conditioning. One potential problem would be sucking moist, moldy air up from the crawl space into the house. Another would be backdrafting a water heater and putting carbon monoxide in the house. These are real problems from real houses that have really happened.

If you're tempted to buy one because it's solar-powered and won't increase your electricity bill, go back and read what I just said. These things probably won't save you any money. Even if they're solar, they'll still suck the conditioned air out of your house and make your bill higher, not lower.

[PaPaLarry]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

My question is....By cracking open the garage attic steps, does this create any type of potential fire hazard.

It will help the fire spread much quicker!! But it also helps cool garage and attic, if fan on.