Can an Attics be Used to Vent a Portable Air Conditioner?
Uses of attics in buildings
- Storage
Attics are used for different purposes in building. For some people, they convert this space to a store, an office or even bedrooms. Accessing this space is a bit hard since it is located in the uppermost part of the house. People use ladders or loft hatches.
- Cooling
However, the primary purpose of attics in most buildings is to expel the warm air in during the hot days. This helps in cooling the building. In cold weather, an attic is used to vent any moisture making its way to the attic from the conditioned space.
Using an attic to vent a room is two-sided; the positive and negative part of it. The advantage of using an attic is cooling the room. However, this may turn out to be a short term result especially if you do not have a dehumidifier unit there. A drip tray is provided in the attic to collect any water that forms. The risk that comes along with using an attic is causing an increase in humid air in the room which will result to mildew and mold in the attic. Once this space is destroyed, it could cost one a lot of money to have the repairs done.
The attics remain inhospitable due to accumulation of hot air. With time, inventions have been made to modify it. Attics get insulated to help in reduction of energy usage and cost. Failure to insulate leads to energy losses accounting to up to 15% of the total house usage. Modern building codes have given people a chance to have either vented or unvented attics for their houses. However, any attic that remains uninhabited should get ventilated. This is to reduce air accumulation of hot air in the rooms. Houses located in areas likely to get wildfire attacks should not have vented attics. This is to prevent sparks from getting into the attics and spreading fire to the other parts of the building.
As a conditioner works, the condensed air ought to be vented outside the house. In case one vents through an attic, it means that all the evaporated air would accumulate there. In the end, you will not have received a proper cooling effect and secondly, the system would heat up. This is due to consumption of electricity. Portable air conditioners do not require a window or a door for venting. One can get portable air conditioners from manufacturing shops.
Provided you position the conditioner in the house; you can drill a hole on the wall or through an attic, for this matter, to the house. An exhaust pipe is fitted in the hole to vent the air to the outside. Provided one has installed the attic in a professional way, you could decide to vent the air conditioner or not. However, if this is the only option available, never doubt it.
Is venting a portable air conditioner using attic the only option available?
The answer to this question is straightforward – it’s a no, no! You can invent several ways of survival. External vents and flexible ducts are readily available in shops. The only requirement is sealing the duct from the outside whenever the weather threatens to turn cold. This is to prevent cold air from flowing back into the room during winters to prevent freezing/shivering in the building. Additionally, open the vents during hot weathers to help hot air flow outside the room freely.
The key thing in portable air conditioners is venting them to the outside to avoid accumulation of moisture in the rooms.
Tip: While venting a room in your home or a commercial business for sale, always seek for professional help from known construction firms. Never work with amateurs because they would compromise the integrity of your premise.
