Air Quality – Attic Air Leakage in Recessed Lighting
Attic Air
Recessed Lighting Fixtures were designed to add aesthetic appeal to your home but have a tendency to leak attic air. They come with a variety of trim to make them appealing to the eye. The only problem lies in the fact that the old style in homes can cause a serious problem in Indoor Air Quality. We have tested hundreds of existing recessed housing fixtures and found that they all have a tendency to allow hot and humid air from the attic to intrude into the home.
If you look at the housing you will understand why this takes place. See Photo on Left. Looking at the fixture and you will see slits in the side. On this particular fixture, you see the holes on the side. If you look at the Photo on the right, you will see additional holes in the electrical connection box. If you add up all the available holes in the fixture, you will get an approximate figure of 2 to 3 inches of attic air leakage in each fixture. Once you add up the total number of recessed lighting fixtures in a house, you can tell the client the size of the hole in the ceiling that is leaking attic air.
It is common to find a minimum of 20 to 50 of these fixtures in a home. The hole in the ceiling surface can amount to 40 inches on the low side to 100 inches on the high side. If you want to test yours, get a hygrometer, turn it on, remove the light bulb and stick it inside the fixture (make sure the light is off) while the Air Conditioning unit is cycled on. Upsetting isn’t it; to discover you have been wasting all that money to Air Condition part of your attic’s air. Read More
