How Healthy is Your Attic?

The Shock Doctors

ECRA/ESA #7001377

Writing your Prescription for Electrical Safety Feb 2012

In This Issue

Attic Venting

Heat Loss Culprits

AIRMILES NEWS

Oldest Panel Contest

If you have a friend with an old electrical panel, help them win a brand new one! Click here for details.

Thanks to our family artist Elliott Beavan for our Old Geezer panel.

(This month, Cheri has commandeered the spot at the top of the page See you next month! .... Terry)

A couple of weeks ago I took the Northlander train to Timmins to visit a friend. They get the kind of snow I remember from my childhood - that is: waist deep.

Walking around the old part of town, looking at the roofs laden with snow reminded me that now is the perfect chance to do a little check up on your attic without crawling up inside.

Although this topic is not strictly electrical, I cannot let this time of year slip by without encouraging you to get outside and inspect the lid of your home.

The Shock Doctors spend more time than the average person crawling around in attics: running new wiring, replacing 1.0718954248366012

bathroom exhaust vents and range hoods, so I found them quite experienced in attic matters when I asked them.

Just like the opening lines from the children's show "The Friendly Giant" says, "Look up, way up!"

Cheri Carman

Perfect snow distribution

There is no better time to assess the health of your attic than right now in the sub-zero throes of winter. A well insulated, properly vented attic will have a nice, even blanket of snow on the rooftop, the roof vents will be unobstructed and the eaves will be icicle-free.

Uneven snow distribution, bare patches and icicles are warning indicators that should raise some questions about your attic:

Is the insulation properly placed?
Is there adequate airflow from outside entering the attic space?
Are the ducts and vents running through it insulated and properly exhausted - or are they blasting damaging warm and humid air into the attic cavity?

Attic Venting

Your attic is not just empty space perched atop your manor or a place where embarrassing photo albums go to be buried. A properly designed attic will draw in air from the outside through the soffits - which are the underside of your eaves - and out the top vents. The little holes you can see punched in soffit material are actually vents to allow airflow. Airflow is necessary to remove any warm air that is leaking from inside the house into the attic.

Serious attic trouble

Removal of unwanted heat from the attic in the winter is essential. It keeps the roof surface cold to prevent melting and re-freezing on the outside (the culprit that causes ice and icicle buildup further down the roof). The air movement also prevents high levels of humidity from accumulating inside the attic avoiding an environment perfect for mould growth.

If you have vented soffits, but you still have icicles present, it may indicate that insulation has filled the space where the air should flow. The insulation should nicely fill to the edge of the outside wall, but not past the wall into the eaves, and not be too high to block the air channel above it.

Heat Loss Culprits

Melted areas on the roof can also mean significant heat is escaping from your living space into the attic area. Long thick icicles tell a similar story.

One of the culprits of heat loss is attic hatches. Hatches are the small covered ceiling opening provided for access to the attic space and commonly get missed when the insulation was installed. They also need weather stripping installed around the edges to effectively seal them.

Bathroom fans need to be properly ducted to the outdoors - not into the attic - using insulated vent pipes, and special care taken to ensure that the attic insulation neatly surrounds the fan box.

Spaces where plumbing stacks and chimneys come through the ceiling to the attic are major sources of air leakage. These should be addressed with proper caulking material.


Clues to attic problems are most obvious at this time of year and we have touched on a sampling of the possible reasons for attic woes. Even if your own home is showing no indication of trouble, you will have a whole new perspective of your neighbourhood when you are out for your crisp evening stroll.

GREAT NEWS about your AIRMILES Reward Miles!
We have renewed our contract with AIRMILES for another year making OUR CLIENTS the ONLY CLIENTS approved to receive AIRMILES reward miles on electrical services.

Do you have a question for the Doctor?
If you have a question about the health of your electrical system or would like to investigate a little "plastic surgery", ask the doctor: Click and send your question to info@theshockdoctors.ca.

Can't resist a Valentine's day riddle...

What kind of dog is this?

Why it's a "Love Pug" of course! :D

Yours for a healthy attic,

Cheri