steveh_131
Grandmaster
Alright guys, this problem has been driving me nuts this summer and I can not figure it out for the life of me.
This has happened for the past two summers. On the hottest and muggiest days, my ceiling in my living room and hallway drips yellow-ish condensation. My wife is complaining of 'pockets' of warm air throughout the living room.
House layout: Single floor ranch style house, low attic. It has peak vents and soffit vents with blown-in insulation.
The basement is unfinished. I sealed off the intake and other hvac vents in the basement as it was freezing cold in the summer and seemed wasteful (the problem preceded those changes, though).
Upstairs the worst of it is in my living room, but it continues down the hall somewhat. There is a whole house fan in the ceiling at the end of the hall, which is not in use on these hot days (but does not seal very well when it's closed off).
I cleaned the coils on the condensor, they were pretty well clogged with cottonwood. The problem happened again the next day. New filter in furnace, air is blowing plenty cold enough.
I see a few options:
1. Warm, moist air is in contact with a cooler ceiling, causing water to condense on the ceiling surface. I don't fully understand how the ceiling could be cooler than the air in the room.. it doesn't feel particularly cool, and the ducts are all run through the basement, not the attic.
2. Warm moist air in the attic is in contact with the cool ceiling drywall, water condenses, and it drips down through the drywall into the room? It seems like my ceiling would be damaged by this, but the water just wipes right off.
3. I've considered taking apart the drip hose from the furnace... could that be clogged? It's a clear plastic tube and if I pick it up, water does drip out slowly. No clogs on the line that is outside the furnace, but could it be clogged somewhere inside?
I need to figure out a way to check my soffit vents and make sure they aren't clogged up with this blown-in crap, the previous owner was a hack and it's possible... but would that cause this particular issue?
Any other ideas? Thanks, guys.
ETA: I also have some issues with ice dams in the winter time, causing minor leaks around the chimney. Perhaps this indicates a bigger issue with attic ventilation?
This has happened for the past two summers. On the hottest and muggiest days, my ceiling in my living room and hallway drips yellow-ish condensation. My wife is complaining of 'pockets' of warm air throughout the living room.
House layout: Single floor ranch style house, low attic. It has peak vents and soffit vents with blown-in insulation.
The basement is unfinished. I sealed off the intake and other hvac vents in the basement as it was freezing cold in the summer and seemed wasteful (the problem preceded those changes, though).
Upstairs the worst of it is in my living room, but it continues down the hall somewhat. There is a whole house fan in the ceiling at the end of the hall, which is not in use on these hot days (but does not seal very well when it's closed off).
I cleaned the coils on the condensor, they were pretty well clogged with cottonwood. The problem happened again the next day. New filter in furnace, air is blowing plenty cold enough.
I see a few options:
1. Warm, moist air is in contact with a cooler ceiling, causing water to condense on the ceiling surface. I don't fully understand how the ceiling could be cooler than the air in the room.. it doesn't feel particularly cool, and the ducts are all run through the basement, not the attic.
2. Warm moist air in the attic is in contact with the cool ceiling drywall, water condenses, and it drips down through the drywall into the room? It seems like my ceiling would be damaged by this, but the water just wipes right off.
3. I've considered taking apart the drip hose from the furnace... could that be clogged? It's a clear plastic tube and if I pick it up, water does drip out slowly. No clogs on the line that is outside the furnace, but could it be clogged somewhere inside?
I need to figure out a way to check my soffit vents and make sure they aren't clogged up with this blown-in crap, the previous owner was a hack and it's possible... but would that cause this particular issue?
Any other ideas? Thanks, guys.
ETA: I also have some issues with ice dams in the winter time, causing minor leaks around the chimney. Perhaps this indicates a bigger issue with attic ventilation?
