Does Attic Insulation Help With Humidity

Moisture control is an important issue when you think about the insulation in your home.

Does attic insulation help with humidity. A moist attic means moist insulation and moist insulation is less effective. This is because insulation that has become wet does not function as well as dry insulation. Yes attic insulation does make a difference. Insulating against the elements when an attic is poorly insulated the space may be infiltrated by humidity precipitation and even bugs or vermin.

Humidity settings are another issue that can make or break the performance of your heating and cooling systems and your attic ventilation. Advani hopes to finish the attic and install a minisplit although he s not sure that will lower the humidity. Adding the right amount of insulation can prevent excess humidity and liquid or frozen precipitation from entering the attic space which protects the space and anything stored inside of it. The heat stored will assist in creating a comfortable environmentin your home.

Similarly by improving your insulation you can help to improve the levels of humidity in your home. When you insulate the top of your attic with spray foam you re bringing your attic into your home s envelope as a result you can reduce the temperature in your attic by a lot anywhere from 120 degrees to around 95 during peak summer. The attic r value mandated to consider your insulation compliant or effective is between r 50 and r 60. Effective attic insulation acts as a barrier that prevents the attic heat from seeping through the ceiling and into the house.

The normal indoor humidity range in winter should be 15. We mean that literally by the way. You can usually control humidity with storm windows storm doors dehumidifiers and proper roof ventilation. These can include installation of seamless gutters and downspouts.

You will have to fit insulation fabric on the attic that will prevent air leakages resulting in heat loss. Only about 10 of the hip roof is shaded so it gets plenty of direct sunlight. Moving the attic insulation and air barrier to the underside of the roof deck allows the attic to be part of the insulated spaces. If the problem is the result of water or moisture penetrating the foundation or floor slab there are many remedial actions which may help.

This is especially true in humid areas because when the warm humid air is brought into a crawl space or attic that is cooler the excess moisture in the air condenses out and can cause moisture problems. With outside temperatures ranging between 5 f and 95 f attic temperatures range between 48 f and 92 f. This can significantly reduce the indoor temperature and humidity. However unless we re talking about insulating cold water pipes most of the time proper insulation does not directly impact humidity in your home.