[Greenbuilding] temperature stratification rule of thumb (in two-story house)?

Reuben Deumling 9watts at gmail.com
Tue Jul 8 19:47:19 CDT 2014


I'm working on a remodel/turn house into a duplex. In the upstairs
apartment that is being carved out of the existing house (with 2x6 walls
insulated with fiberglass batts) I've increased the exterior wall thickness
by 4 inches and blown cellulose into the cavities ~3.6lbs/cf, leaving the
drywall in place (now in the middle of the wall). I've also lofted the
attic and created a double rafter setup with the interior set of fiberglass
batts running horizontally. Total insulation thickness is about 10-1/2" in
the vaulted part as well. White metal roof.

It is summer. I've finished all the insulation, and have temperature
monitors in various places around the house. To my chagrin, the temperature
in the now much better (more carefully and thicker) insulated portion is no
different than in the equivalently oriented part of the upstairs. Both are
only about 7 degrees cooler than the outside 80F vs 87F. Downstairs, also
with R19 FG walls, it is 75F.

By lofting the remodeled portion I've of course incorporated the
attic-as-hotter-still upper layer, but I had hoped the extra insulation and
attention to detail would overcome this. I did not leave any air gap
between the vaulted insulation and the roof sheathing.

There is a bank of windows (as yet un-shuttered) on the S/W gable of this
remodeled part which gets the full brunt of the afternoon and evening sun.
The Chestnut tree still has about three years to grow before it starts to
shade that part of the house. Tomorrow I will experiment with makeshift
shutters in the afternoon and see what difference that makes.

Question 1: are there rules of thumb about heat stratification in a two
story vaulted/unvaulted house, all else being equal?

Question 2: from my description, are there things I should have done, could
still do, to improve the summertime thermal performance of this space?

Thanks very much.
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