[SchroedingersCat]

I'd talk to your landlord about EPDM. It's available in sheets or liquid. It's basically a rubber roof and usually white. Protects against sun, rain, hail, etc. The liquid goes on like thick paint. The sheets you staple and glue.

[east2west]

An attic fan would help, some are designed to use very little power and silent, basicly here, you get what you pay for.

Sorry if it was mentioned allready (didnt see it) but the most important thing is that your ceiling is insulated, and insulated properly, 10 inches of attic insulation is recomended.

Just remember your attic will never be as cool as your house, no matter how much shade you have, it will allways be at least the temperature the outside air is, which is why ceiling insulation is so important.

[BrownDog]

Odds are very good that the house could benefit from additional soffit vents. I doubt the landlord would object to this, if done correctly.

I bought a 12V gable fan from Home Depot and attached it to a solar panel. It does a respectable job of pulling the hot air out of the attic, and is very quiet. I mounted it in the existing gable vent, so it didn't require any permanent modifications to the house. It is especially helpful on those days when the sun is beating down and yet there is no wind.

These two combined have made a huge improvement in both comfort and energy savings.

[drew]

I just put a big fan in the attic opening. It is a 'commercial' model so it is loud but it feels like it could blow you over from ten feet away. Anyways it is 10 oclock and raining outside. It is already 10 degrees cooler in the kitchen and the fan has been running for an hour.

Thanks my fellow Peak Oil posters!!!!

It's good to get something other than depression from this site!!

lol


Drew

[static66]

I say move into a cob yurt and get on with it.... there is precious little time.

[oilfreeandhappy]

From my days working in Electrical Supplies I recalled that there is a common, affordable device called an attic ventilator:


Here's Broan's sales pitch on these devices:
"Trapped attic air can reach temperatures of 150 degrees or more. Broan Powered Attic Ventilators cool attics by removing this super heated air. Non-air conditioned homes are more comfortable and, in air conditioned homes, air conditioners run less during hot weather. The results are energy savings everyone can appreciate."

They can be used in conjunction with thermostats.

[azreal60]

That attic ventilator you show isn't exactly cheap. I'm not a huge fan of putting all sorts of stuff on a roof. But then, for a while I was the roofer trying to figure out how to properly put the shingles around the crap that was stuck up there.

That's going to cost a good amount to install. And if you don't have it professionally installed, I can almost guarantee roof leakage. Even experienced roofers can screw up a device install.

Number one reason for attic problems? Lack of sofit vents or too few sofit vents for the roof. Suckers are incredibly easy to put in, costs you next to nothing, and will not only make your roof less of a heater, but will also make it less likely to mold and do all sorts of other nasty things.