Radiant Barriers and Solar Roof Fans

3,654 Views | 14 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Whens lunch
Ferg
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Has anyone on here had them installed?

Did it make much of a difference?
aezmvp
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Parents had them installed on a 50's ranch. It was a 3000+ sq single story and it cut nearly half off their cooling bill in the summers. Less so in the winter but it helped a ton. Downside is it screwed with their cell phone reception. Not sure if that's all or just their specific style. It was actual panels put on the roof decking.
Ferg
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I was thinking of the spray on barrier.
ftworthag02
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AG
Ridge & soffit vents are the way to go and if you can couple that w/ radiant barrier that would be ideal.

I've heard that the power fans burn out especially in Texas.

Ferg
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House is 20 years old, so it doesn't have the ridge vent, but I wish it did.
sixiron
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AG
I installed a radiant barrier myself in my old home using the foil from www.atticfoil.com. But I moved to a different home a few months later so I wasn't able to judge how much of a difference it made. They have lots of good info on their site about the different radiant products (including spray), install methods, etc. Their foil is much more durable than the flimsy stuff you get at Lowes/HD.
Ferg
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Cleaning the Soffit vents. Thanks that tip alone made the video worth watching.
Whitetail
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AG
quote:
I installed a radiant barrier myself in my old home using the foil from www.atticfoil.com. But I moved to a different home a few months later so I wasn't able to judge how much of a difference it made. They have lots of good info on their site about the different radiant products (including spray), install methods, etc. Their foil is much more durable than the flimsy stuff you get at Lowes/HD.
Thanks for that write up and link...I think I'll look into adding it to my home in the cooler months.
JP76
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What type of venting do you currently have ?

Corps_Ag12
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AG
Did wonders for my parents house & the house I currently live in has it & the bills are reasonable.

Cellphone reception is affected though. Verizon doesn't work period & sprint is spotty. Only AT&T works inside the house with 1 bar of signal.
The Fife
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The only thing I've done to the attic that made any meaningful difference was putting in radient barrier (Attic Foil kind that was mentioned) + continuous soffit and ridge venting. Nothing else did much - motorized fans, whirleybirds or any of that. No measurable difference when attic temperatures were logged.

Mobile phone service was completely unaffected.
yippee2
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AG
Parents have both radiant barrier and solar fans. Put the pencil to it before you do it. IMO the payout on the fans is to long.

Since installing barrier, they have no cell service.
TravelAg2004
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AG
If you're in Dallas, I had these guys come and install the radiant barrier. I tried to do it myself, but wasn't having much luck. I probably could have done it if I spent a weekend or two, but they did it in about 4 hours.

http://www.greenlows.com/

They did a great job and it definitely helped in the summer. But I did have a house with continuous soffit vents. They installed a powered attic fan instead of the passive vent to help pull air through, but it was set to only come on when the attic got above 100*. With the radiant barrier, it hardly ever got that hot.
Ferg
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Was it Spray on or did they use one that attached to the Roof?

Also, did it effect your cell phones, wifi, etc?
chahdi
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I think it's a bit late now to share that now, but may be next time you can check this website where you can find a very interesting buying guide on Radiant Barriers. This one : https://heaterslab.com/best-radiant-barriers/



Whens lunch
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AG
I did the radiant barrier here in S.A. We had ridge vents installed and the barrier was relatively easy to install....just stapling the foil to the roof. I had to remind myself regularly that this was an attic and the barrier didn't
really care if it was beautiful.

Still have some areas to finish that are a real pain to get to

I got the radiant barrier from these guys:

Radiant Guard

Pretty reasonable ...located in the DFW area somewhere I think. Took about two days to receive here in S.A.

We do have some cellular dead spots in the house now.

Edit to add:

I can't tell how much difference it made. We've had some remodeling done and I'm pretty sure some ducting got screwed up that I'd have tear into the ceiling to check.
Not when I'm done with it.
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