11050
Accession Number
9370
Author
Cleary, Peter;Sherman, Max
Author Affiliation
University of California. LawrenceBerkeley Laboratory;University of California. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Title Of Article Chaper
Seasonal Storage of Moisture in Roof Sheathing
Title Of Journal Book
ISA
Pages
313-323
Collation
11 p. : ill.
Reference Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references
Language Of Text
English
Literature Type
Serial
Literature Level
Analytic
Abstract
Classic research into attic moisture problems tended to concentrate on the static prediction of instantaneous temperatures at the underside of the rood sheathing, which was regarded as an inert medium. However, recent work has demonstrated the existence of daily and seasonal cycles in attic moisture parameters. Over the course of a day, tha attic air humidity may vary by a factor of three, and during the course of a winter there is storage of perhaps 45 kg (100 lb) of water in the roof sheathing and roofing trusses. On a daily basis the moisture flow is quite significant, of the order of 2 kg per hour (5 lb per hour). The daily cycles suggest that as the roof sheathing is warmed by incident solar radiation, water is driven off and removed by the ventilation air. A simple method to predict the seasonal variation of wood moisture content has been developed by considering the hour-by-hour transport of water into and out of the wood surfaces of the attic. To validate the model, hour-by-hour measurments of wood resistance, attic, and outside dew-point and meteorological variables were made over a four month period on an unoccupied house in Oroville, CA. The roof sheathing moisture content was found to vary from approximately 14per thousand in December to 7per thousand in early Apriil.. Measurements are compared with predictions.
Keywords
storage;moisture;seasonal;attic;wood
pub_id
11050