I have 2 related questions that I have not been able to find referenced on your blog or elsewhere: First, where should the attic return be physically located? I have a central return on the air handler in my 1960s home. Currently I have an attic return (just a grille in the ceiling) at one of the ends of my ranch home. But I can smell and feel the more humid attic return air flowing into the end room (no door) as it flows to the central return. I’m considering putting the return grille in the ceiling of the central return closet instead. Good idea?

Second, what should be done in the winter with the attic supply and return? The air handler will no longer dehumidify the attic air because it is in heating mode, not AC. Of course, the attic air should not need to be dehumidified in the winter. Will the attic supply, blowing in warm air, cause potential problems with condensation on the roof deck since the roof deck will probably be colder than the attic air? In short, should the attic supply and return be *disabled* (sealed) in the winter?

Thanks again – I have leared a LOT from your blog!

If the attic in the article were a sealed attic (e.g., open-cell foam on roofline) rather than a ventilated attic, then the strategy of adding a return on the plenum in the attic would be exactly what Joe Lstiburek recommends in his “cool hand Luke” article, correct?

I am located in the hot and humid south and recently sealed my attic. After doing so, I found high humidity in the attic and responded by adding supply air which seems to have corrected the problem. I am now planning to add a small return grill to the ceiling of the central return closet (air handler location) to finish the job. In other words, I am planning to do the exact thing that you pillory in this article! Can you confirm that adding a return to the air handler is NOT a bad idea when the attic is *sealed*? Thanks!

Allison, I think you are doing it wrong. Whiskey is intended as a magical liquid that makes you forget, not remember.

Yeah I was thinking we would just forget this fresh air dilemma and just go off and get bombed somewhere.

Anyone?

Let’s face it, you come across one of these and you’re going to wish you were bombed. LOL.

Worth noting is that this attic air intake will pressurize the house like a balloon. So not only are they creating extra work at the air handler with the attic air, a good amount of inadequately conditioned air will be pushed right back outside through the envelope. It’s lose lose.

Here in the dry desert of Northern Nevada, where cooling season diurnal temperatures can swing 50F (!!), I use a turbine fan to pull home air into the attic after midnight, with micro-screened open windows providing relief air, and am able to pull inside temps to near outside ambient by morning. My wife is not thrilled waking to 68F but that rises by early afternoon and tops out around 80F in early evening. Did I mention 10% RH?

I would luv to have been a fly on the wall when Bruce gently inquired of the home owner where the “hole in the return” concept came from. 😄