rejectomorph (flying_blind) wrote,
rejectomorph
flying_blind

Enough Summer

One problem with those rooftop turbines that are supposed to vent your attic is that they only work if there's at least a little bit of wind to turn them. Last night was not extraordinarily hot (for August) but the air was perfectly still so the turbines on my roof probably didn't move all night. As a result, the insulation in my attic never got the day's accumulated heat pulled up and away, and acted like an enormous heat battery which radiated down into my house all night.

When I woke from an unintentional nap about half past four this morning it was still about 75 degrees in here. With windows and drapes open and the HVAC fan on I managed to get it down to about 73 before it got above 73 outdoors and I had to close everything up, and thus the misery was somewhat lessened, but still it was miserable, and has been all day.

I'm going to have to look into getting the powered attic fan replaced. It didn't work for years, and when the house was re-roofed a couple of years ago I had the roofers just take the old hulk out. Maybe I could get one of those solar-powered attic fans with a battery that stores the daytime summer electricity to run the thing at night. It wouldn't be needed in the cloudy winter, and the hot weather here is invariably sunny so it might work out well. If it can be installed on the spot where the useless turbine is now, so much the better. There won't have to be any new holes opened up in the roof.

It looks like it's going to be still again tonight, so I've had to go back to using the air conditioner, even though it's cooling off rather nicely outdoors. If there's no way to vent the attic then it just won't get cool in the house. All that stored heat is going to work the air conditioner harder, because it will keep leaking through the ceiling and the machine will have to take it outside, but it can't be helped. I refuse to go through another night being as hot as I was last night, even though cooling off will add a few dollars to this month's electric bill.

Anyway, summer is almost two thirds gone, and soon I'll be complaining about the uncomfortable morning chill of autumn. Typically I enjoy it for a few days and then find it annoying thereafter, unless we get a late heat wave which renews my appreciation of cold air. Today I appreciate cold air very much indeed, and only wish I didn't have to pay to get it.

It's an even numbered day, so outdoor watering is allowed. I should go out and irrigate some of those thirsty shrubs before it gets too dark to see them.
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