Your house sometimes gets really hot, right?
A lot of Australian homes have a problem with the roof space getting very hot during hot weather and radiating uncomfortable heat down into the living areas during the summer months. In this case it really does not matter even if you have the windows open, an air conditioner going, or fans operating, you can still feel the radiated heat coming down from the ceiling.
Where is this heat coming from?
The main cause of a house heating up is from the sun heating up the roof surface, be it concrete or terracotta tiles, slate, or metal. The roof surface radiates and conducts that heat into the roof space, where it builds up in the timber frames, the air, and anything else that is in there. We have actually measured temperatures on the roof when fitting solar panels and over 80 degrees Celsius is quite common in many places.
Enclosed Roof space gets even hotter
Because the roof space is enclosed and has very little air flow, this space gets hotter and hotter throughout the day. It is like an oven, a source of abundant heat, and nowhere for it to go. So, it just gets hotter and hotter, as the day warms up.
The problem with installed thermal insulation
Insulation is great for retaining warmth in the winter, and for keeping the heat inside the room. However, installing thermal insulation in the ceiling can only make matters worse when it comes to heat. When the roof space gets very hot, thermal insulation creates a heated barrier with hot thermal mass resting directly on the ceiling. Radiating the heat and keeping the room below quite hot.
Getting to the cause of the Hot House problem
What is happening is that the sun beams down on the roof all day. You can check inside your own roof space by opening the manhole in the ceiling, and popping your head inside the roof space, to see how hot it is. Try it first thing in the morning, then at lunchtime, and again late in the afternoon. The temperature will generally increase throughout the day and be hottest around 4pm in the afternoon.
The easy solution – Solar Roof Ventilators from Solazone
As we mentioned before the issue is with the air not being ventilated and thus creating a heat trap. What we suggest is having a ventilation system in your roof that allow the air to escape. This will release the hot heat thus you are cooling the roof naturally. Our Solar Roof Ventilators work by extracting the heat. The best thing is that as we are using the sun’s free energy to counteract the effect of the sun. it like the sun is a source of natural heat, which is simply energy. What you are now doing is harnessing that energy to keep your house cooler.
