Roof is hot

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abunaitoo

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I got one of those laser temp guns, and have been checking the temp around the house.
Normal temp is around 85' wall and ceiling.
On really hot days it's 98' on the sun facing wall, and over 100' at the ceiling.
I can feel the heat coming from the ceiling.
Kind of like a broiler in the house.
We have a flat roof, false ceiling.
Just a crawl space up there.
I looked into the Quiet cool fan, but not enough room for it.
I was thinking two gable fans and more vents.
Don't really want to install insulation.
Any suggestions to try and keep the heat down.
We don't have to worry about keeping warm here.
 
Fans can easily pull conditioned air from the living space into the attic unless every penetration is sealed, this included places where plumbing and electrical lines penetrate the top plate. Any can lights or other electrical boxes need to be sealed from allowing air flow. If any cans aren't IC (insulation contact) rated any insulation must be separated from the can. They make caps that allow you to seal them while still keeping air flow around them to prevent overheating. The overheating problem is much less a problem when using LED lights in the cans versus incandescent bulbs. Roofs will be hot, they sit in the hot sun all day.
 
I might question why the most common solution of insulation is ruled out?
I would think a combo of more insulation to seperate the room from the outside and then more airflow above the insulation would be a good way to go.
When we first moved to Central Texas, the first thing we upgraded was the insulation.
If you only increase the airflow through the space above, you will also increase the load on air conditioning the living space. As mentioned there are many holes between the living space and the overhead and moving air out of the overhead will then move conditioned air into that space, with hot air from outside filling the living space below!
Every ceiling light fixture has a box and most of them are open for air to move through! Every wallout is likely tohaveopenings into the wall and a hole at the top for it to go up. On a hot day, try holding a smoke source near an outlet to see the draft pulling it into the wall! Hot air rises and the outlet is just like a chimney on some.

Fill that overhead space with 9 inches of blown in insulation and it will quickly pay for itself!
 
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