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Transcripts:
Brady Hallford:
Having the air gap allows the radiant barrier to more effectively bounce the heat back into the atmosphere and cool your attic.
We’re up in an attic about three-quarters through the install of the radiant barrier foil. So as you could see, the foil is a four foot wide roll of foil that’s laid out and stapled to the underside of the roof rafters, creating a five and a half inch air gap between your roof deck and the foil itself. Radiant heat is heat that travels through air, so having the air gap allows the radiant barrier to more effectively bounce the heat back into the atmosphere and cool your attic.
Attics in Houston hit 130, 140, even 150 degrees. This radiant barrier foil when installed properly can reduce the temperature in your attic by as much as 40 degrees. That can save up to 30% on your utility cost, wear and tear on your AC unit, and increase the comfort in your home.
And when we’re done, the foil will go up like so, and we’ll be able to use aluminum silver tape to tape every seam, creating a unified piece of foil throughout the attic. It’s also important to leave the air gap at the top of the ridge and at the bottom of the soffits because we don’t want to trap heat and moisture behind the radiant barrier. This is a perforated foil, so it’s breathable. It’s also important to use the proper kind of foil that has the perforations because if not, you can have moisture and humidity issues creating mold and lots of problems. And that’s why it’s important to have a pro that knows what they’re doing install your radiant barrier.
