Moisture in your attic can cause a number of financial and health issues for you and your family. Left unchecked, excess moisture in the air can lead to unsightly and dangerous mold and mildew forming on walls and eventually structural damage. On top of those problems, the attic can act as a hot or cold ‘sink,’ drawing temperate air from other parts of the home. This puts a drain upon your home energy use, resulting in higher energy bills.

Recognizing Causes of Attic Moisture

Your first step to fixing attic atmosphere problems is to identify how moisture is getting in there.  Most commonly, this is caused by poor insulation, poor ventilation, or a combination of both. Specific signs can indicate the root cause. For example:

• Poor insulation results in attic frost and ice damming. As warm air moves readily into the attic, it condenses on surfaces like the ceiling, roof beams, and pipes, forming frost.
• Poor ventilation allows moist air to be retained in the attic, encouraging mold, and other unhealthy organisms to grow.

Effectively controlling attic moisture requires that you get the right balance between insulation and ventilation.

Fixing Insulation Problems

This is an easy fix. Get a certified insulator to install fiberglass batts, or other insulating materials such as sheep’s wool or cellulose. It’s a good idea to get the installer to seal any gaps where air could be leaking out as well.

Fixing Ventilation Problems

Common methods to ventilate attics are to install attic fans and vents. Equally importantly, it’s essential that attic vents are left open in cold weather to reduce condensation.

Don’t forget to pop up into the attic a few times a year to check on the atmosphere. A major reason for attic problems causing severe problems is that they tend to be rarely used, allowing problems to develop sight unseen for months or years.

Expert Assistance

For detailed advice about controlling attic moisture or any home comfort matters, please contact us at Powers Heating & Air. We’ve been looking after the home comfort needs of the Peachtree City, Georgia area and surrounds since 2001.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

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