Damp Attic: 2009-12-05
A few days ago, sister Jojo noted that all the boxes in the attic had a damp, not quite bone-dry feel to them. So I went in to check it out and yes indeed, the sole window there was soaked, and I found signs of fresh mildew on the rafters as well. Of course, after having experienced this same situation last year, I knew immediately that the ”tropical climate” this time, had been triggered by a combination of two facts:
- The vent-less gas heaters in the basement have been operating for a month now;
- Plus, the attic exhaust fan had not been used since the last time the temperature in there rose above 85 degrees; probably sometime in early October.
But without the exhaust fan running, the humid air from those heaters below, makes its way up through the first floor of the house here, and then builds up just underneath the roof on the second floor. Without the fan pushing it out, the vapor has no place to escape. So it hovers there, in the attic, and then when the temperature outside plummets to the low thirties and upper twenties, everything cools in this unheated space to roughly match that temperature. So then, excessive condensation occurs as that trapped moist and warm air contacts the now-chilly items there, and turns into water; drenching just about everything in this gable-roofed room; support structure and contents alike.
As was the case last year, the solution is to run the exhaust fan. Doing so for the past couple days has dried everything out nicely, and it appears that all signs of further mildew incursions have disappeared also. In fact, to ensure that everything stayed dry last year, I just operated the fan full-time, throughout the entire winter. So that’s what I’ll do this winter too.
Now I’ve been meaning to purchase a humidistat for the fan, that would turn it on automatically at the first hints of unduly moist air around it. These devices cost roughly $50, which is not too bad. But I’ve just been putting off the purchase for who knows what reason. It isn’t as though I can’t afford it. So I promise: I will get to it sometime in 2010.
Readers: Hold me to that. 