Construction management is just one of the luxury concierge services we offer in the Bahamas but it is one that can have a significant impact on appreciation retention and of course, your personal comfort. Understanding the challenges that a tropical climate presents to conventional building techniques makes the difference between an estate home that retains its value and gives you years of low maintenance service and a big house that is a constant battle to upkeep.
In a previous post we talked about forming and covering the roof. The materials and techniques we recommended are proven to be the best available to stand up to the heat, humidity, rain and winds that the Bahamas are famous for. Today we want to talk about that space directly beneath the roof…the attic.
Measured in square feet or cubic feet your attic is the largest single "room" in your residence. True nobody lives there but conditions in the attic can have a direct impact on one of your most vital home systems, the duct work for your air conditioning.
When Conditions Get Hot Keep a Cool Head
That’s good advice in a crisis situation but those are also words to live by when it comes to maintaining your roof and attic space. One of the biggest mistakes made by residential construction companies building in the Bahamas is not providing adequate ventilation of the attic.
Imagine for a moment the influence that an ambient temperature of 1500 to 1600 has on the "cool air" that is being pumped by your air conditioner through the duct work that resides in the attic. In an inadequately ventilated roof those kinds of temperatures can be common. When temperatures get that high, the "cool air" won’t be as cool as it should be and the demand on your air conditioning compressor can be a third more than it has to be.
You won’t be comfortable, your compressor will require maintenance or replacement before its time and your energy bill will go through the roof (pun intended).
A well ventilated roof can reduce that ambient temperature by 500 degrees or more and the way you get a well-ventilated roof is to create a flow of fresh air. That flow is created by vents in the eaves (extruded aluminum rather than short lasting screens) and goose neck vents along the ridge line of the roof. This arrangement allows hot air to enter via the eaves and exit through the vents in the roof.
This is a simple design improvement that adds a negligible cost and delivers performance and energy savings for the life of the home.
Interested in more tips like this? Give us a call at Windridge Olen Exports your luxury concierge service in the Bahamas.
Buddy
Buddy is an entrepreneur extraordinaire, adventurer and explorer who has a talent for taking those varied experiences and translating them into a variety of successful enterprises. As a partner in Windridge Olen Exports, Buddy can provide the talent and materials you need for any project and acquire anything you want when you need it.
