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What Is Radiant Heat Gain?
And why is my House So HOT?
It all starts with the Attic. Have
you ever gone into your attic on a hot Dallas-Ft. Worth Summer day? Did you
know that the attic temperature in most homes can reach 140-160 degrees?
Ideally,
there would be no difference between the OUTSIDE air temperature and the
air temperature INSIDE your attic. What causes your attic
to be so
hot? Two things: RADIANT HEAT GAIN and Inadequate or IMPROPER VENTILATION.
Heat ALWAYS
moves from warmer to cooler environments. This
is Newtons 2nd law of thermodynamics. Therefore, during the summer the big
problem is really the
HOT GETTING IN and
not THE COLD GETTING OUT. This is our specialty to BLOCK
THE HEAT
from entering
your living
space.
The sun produces radiant heat. Radiant heat moves in a straight
line until it is either absorbed or reflected (similar to light).
As the sun
heats your roof, it starts to warm up. Eventually, the roof will get
so
hot
it will
start
to
RADIATE
heat
in all
directions.
Part
of this heat transfer is into the attic and eventually EVERYTHING
GETS HOT - the wood rafters, anything stored in the attic, (boxes, Christmas
stuff, etc.),
your A/C unit, all the ductwork, and finally the actual insulation inside
your attic will heat up.
Think of your attic being
similar to the oven in your kitchen. You turn it on and are eventually going
to feel the
heat outside the
door. Just
like
an oven, the
heat from the attic will eventually find it’s way into the living
space. You may not notice the heat or feel uncomfortable, since
your Air
Conditioner can "keep up" with demand. However, with
less heat entering the home wouldn't your A/C unit run less? This
would Save You
Money!!
In fact, even after the sun goes down, the heat in you attic
continues to radiant into your living space. It is usually
2:00-3:00am before the attic actually cools down to the outside temperature
(some houses NEVER
Cool down). Your A/C is fighting the heat gain the
whole time. Then, when the sun comes up, the process starts over again.
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