Tim:
I have a two-story home in Florida with two central AC units. The
downstairs handler is installed in a hall closet and the upstairs unit is in
the attic. They were both recently serviced and it seems the attic unit is
not doing as well. It's about 5 years old and according to the service man
is in pretty bad shape. The unit has lots of rust from being exposed to the elements in the attic. The unit is located in area of the attic were you can standup. This large space, however it's unfinished. Do you have any
suggestions on what I can do to improve the AC life in the attic? Thanks,
Paul S. Alvarez
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Paul,
The humidity levels in the attic can soar in the summer months because the hotter that air gets the more water it can hold. Higher temperatures also increase the chemical reaction of the oxidation of steel - that is what rust is.
I think you can get better life by installing superb soffit ventilation strips - continuous ones - in conjunction with two or three powered attic ventilation fans. These powered fans will pull cooler outside air through the attic in an attempt to keep the attic temps at or about 100F instead of the probable 140 - 150F it gets now.
Tim Carter
www.askthebuilder.com
W3ATB