Attic Hatch Air Sealing Sdetail

This is generally about a 22 by 30 hole in the ceiling of your house into unconditioned space so it certainly deserves some consideration.

Attic hatch air sealing sdetail. The attic is usually where you can find some of the largest opportunities to save energy in your home. By air sealing in your attic you can stop many major air leaks and help to maintain the desired temperature throughout your home. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings add 2 1 2 inch wide stops around the opening. Attic access hatch air sealing 7 0 our attic is designed mainly to hold our blown in insulation a future post will go over the details as opposed to a place for running hvac equipment conduit for electric or as a potential area for carving out additional storage space.

Erik north the owner of free energy maine is an energy auditor and home performance specialist in westbrook maine. When you re done sealing your attic bypasses push the insulation back into place with an old broom handle or stick as you back out of the attic. The hatch is available in several versions depending on the required amount of insulation in the attic. The stops provide a wider surface for attaching the weatherstrip and a space to mount hook and eye fasteners.

In our ongoing series on air sealing we are going to focus on the dreaded attic hatch or as allison baile s of energy vanguard so eloquently calls it a mind blowing hole in your building envelope instead of crunching the numbers as he did one just needs to walk by one in a hallway during the middle of summer to know it isn t insulated. There are hundreds of things to detail properly to achieve an airtight home but one of the most commonly overlooked in a typical new house is the attic access hatch. Air sealing details air seal to reduce air infiltration between the attic and living spaces attic air sealing attics are not the only places where leakage can occur in homes but leaks between the house and the attic are especially troublesome during the winter when warm air inside the home naturally tends to rise and flow out. They re in plain sight but rarely addressed adequately.

If your hatch rests directly on the moldings like ours did add 2 1 2 in wide stops around the. An attic hatch can be a serious air leak. Eric whetzel tescon vana tape seals the intello membrane to the sides of the hatch. This one manufactured by battic door maintains the house s air barrier.

The guide to attic air sealing provides information and specifications to the following groups. The attic air sealing details section provides a scope of work and specification for the air sealing of many points of air leakage in common attic spaces. Sealing the attic hatch or door. Attic hatches are the purloined letter of house efficiency problems.

Then finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking foam weatherstrip photos 10 and 11.