Apologies for the delayed response -- one would thing an AC adapter would last longer than a year, but Dell laptop designers had other ideas
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Originally Posted by lgtech
I have an attic fan and love it. Here in NH, we only need A/C for about 10-20 days out of the year. Larryrose11 has it right... running it at night can really cool down the house if the outside temp is cool enough. I still like a direct breeze so I installed a couple of ceiling fans, too. One other thing... when you close the windows the next morning after running the attic fan, be sure to pull the window shades if you are in a sunny area. That radiation/solar heating can really add back the heat into your cooled space.
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Here's the concern...Allergies. I open things up only to take-on allergens and humidity. I put the high-performance (lower-flow) filter on the blower to test the symptom-response. From a previous post, I re-wired the blower to run at full-speed instead of Medium-Low as it was, so cooling performance is up to par. It has just been too hot lately in the KC heat. I know, the solution would be Zyrtec and open windows at night, but I end up in a fog with the meds, so that's out. Overnight/sleep-time is the critical period of taking-on the allergens, so open windows at night is tough. I have a new (stand alone) HEPA Air Purifier on order -- the other one took 10+ years of constant operation and is giving it up. More on the new model soon...
I'm constantly opening and closing the blinds to use sunlight instead of lamps, then closure to prevent the "not-so-green House" effect in the afternoon/evening.
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Originally Posted by larryrose11
Yes, these can be bennifical at cooling the attic, but generally, where the heat is coming in (summer)is where the heat is leaving (Winter), so a good sealing job (See above posts) is always in order. Also pay attention to the attic hatch. Think of it like a door. It my house, it was just a piece of plywood. I reinforced it with 2*4, heavily insulated it (I love foam board.) and put EPDM foam strip on both surfaces, the hatch and the ledge it sits on when in place. It seals nice.
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The closet access and bedroom remains sealed and unused in the Winter. Still, a decent seal job would bode well for the colder months.
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If you have ducts running through the attic area, they need to be well insulated and sealed at the beginning and end. PILE cellulose insulation on top of the ducts. Make walls out of cardboard to hold the loose fill in place. If the ducts are metal, then I know that there are leaks along the path. Where they join are obvious problems. You can find the leaks by turning on the furnace blower, and with a stick of incense and a flashlight shining on the smoke. If the smoke moves at all while you slowly move the incense stick along the surface of the duct, then you found a leak. Seal up the duct leaks with aluminum tape, NOT duct tape. AL tape rocks!
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I really need to get up there and perform a full inspection and assess the need for sealing. It's definitely on the short-list of priority items. The house is a 2004/5-build model -- my biggest complaint is the HVAC system (the sub-contractor frankly stinks and the equipment is less-than-ideal to put it politely).
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leave 1 return open in the basement, but no supply's open in the basement.
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The return is a challenge. There are 2 outlets that are sealed-off, but there is no dedicated return chute in the basement. Question: would a small hole in the return duct offer the proper air draw? The question becomes what size, and would it require a runner...
Great discussion!
RH77