Remember when you thought having an attic bedroom would be cool? Well, you were probably thinking about the word “cool” in more ways than one, because as you have learned by now, attics can be anything but cool.
Especially when there is not enough ventilation to help regulate the temperatures.
Solve Your Hot Attic Problem!
Today I want to discuss how to cool an attic bedroom with no insulation so that you will be able to start working toward a solution that will provide you with the comfort you are looking for.
First, let’s start by discussing why it is so hot in your attic so we can pinpoint the problem and provide you with the best solution.
Why Is It So Hot In The Attic?
One of the biggest reasons your attic is getting so hot is most likely due to improper ventilation. There are different kinds of vents that your home may have such as turbines, box vents, ridge vents, and power vents and the size of those vents needs to be proportionate to the size of your attic bedroom.
Soffit Vents
There is also another type of ventilation that is hiding on the underside of your roof at the edge. The soffit vents often get overlooked because they are covered with metal screen and are not visible at first glance.
What is the Purpose of a Soffit Vent?
The purpose of the soffit vents is to push hot air up through the attic and also to blow cool air into the attic.
What is the problem with a Soffit Vent?
Unfortunately, sometimes there is more hot air that needs to be pushed out than these vents will allow and the hot air gets trapped in your attic.
Keep Soffit Vents Clear
Also, since these vents are not easily seen there is a number of things that can happen to them. They could get painted over, they could be dirty and clogged, or in most cases there just simply aren’t enough of them installed to make an impact on cooling your attic.
Ventilation is Crucial to Keeping Your Attic Cool
It is very important to have enough ventilation and the proper ventilation if you want your bedroom to go from a steaming hot sauna to a crispy cool comfortable environment.
What About Insulation In My Attic?
Since you don’t have any insulation in your attic that is most likely where your problem is coming from.
When most people think about the hot temperatures they think, “Well…maybe I have too much insulation and that is the reason my attic is so hot,” but that’s just not the case. In fact, the reason for your hot temperatures is due to a lack of insulation and the radiant heat from the sun.
You are unable to keep the hot air from getting into the attic, because there is no insulation to protect the attic from the hot air. Thick insulation between 14 and 18 inches is what is needed in most cases, but that’s not all…
So, What’s the Solution to a Hot Attic?
There are several steps to improving the excessive heat that stagnates in your attic.
1. Proper and Ample Ventilation
First of all, your ventilation needs to be checked to make sure that your attic is being properly ventilated. If not, then additional ventilation will need to be installed to accommodate the size of your attic bedroom.
2. Insulate the Attic
Next, we need to get you some insulation in that room. Currently you have no insulation so that is the change that will make the biggest difference.
3. Move the Air to Help Ventilation with a Fan
There is still one more thing that needs to be done before we can get the temperatures down to a level where it is comfortable enough to get under the blankets at night.
We highly recommend that you get an attic fan installed. The ventilation and insulation are preventative measures taken to keep the heat out of your attic. Once you have taken those steps you need a way to keep it cooled off and get the cool air circulating and there is no better way than a solar attic fan to do that.
What are the benefits of a Solar Attic Fan?
Remember those vents we were talking about that ventilate your attic?
What a solar attic fan does is it converts the air from that passive ventilation into active air ventilation so you aren’t just sitting around waiting for the vents to push the hot air out of your attic. Instead, you are approaching the problem head on and forcing the hot air out of your bedroom.
Another great benefit you get when you decide to use a solar attic fan is being able to extend the life of your roof because it isn’t put under the stress of holding so much heat.
You will also be doing your Air Conditioning unit a huge favor because it won’t have to work overtime to try to cool down your attic bedroom; therefore, you are going to be able to save money on your electric bill.
The list of benefits you will receive when you decide to use a solar attic fan are huge and it will definitely take care of the heat issue you are experiencing now as long as the other problem areas are corrected as well.
How to Cool an Attic Bedroom With No Insulation
Hopefully you can clearly see where your heat issues are coming from and we have provided you with the solution to solve those issues. If you would like for us to come out and take a look at your ventilation or insulation we are always happy to help.
I hope you found this information useful. Please comment below if you have any questions or would like to say hello.
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2 thoughts on “How to Cool an Attic Bedroom With No Insulation”
Good Lord help please….my home has a finished attic with 2 inches of spray foam insulation covered by shiplap…its balloon construction.new windows…..zero problems in the winter barely need to turn the mini split heat on…but in the summer it’s so hot…we have 2 mini splits in about 350 sq ft room the rest of the house is like a refrigerator…the spray foam guys shot and covered the old attic fan….what do I do now…
Hi Denise, I am sorry you are having these issues. Have you contacted them to remove the spray foam that has sealed the attic fan? I am not sure where you are located but most attics require active or passive ventilation to exhaust the heat that builds up and if it has no where to go, it will go into your home. Calling a local and reputable home inspector may be a good place to start for a second opinion. Hope that helps. Thank you.