Loft / Roof ventilation

SMBW

We're currently boarding our loft and putting in storage cupboards, etc, mainly to hold my partner's large collection of musical instruments. A sunny day like today makes it really obvious how hot it gets up there. As I don't think the heat will do the instruments much good, does anyone know of any good solutions to increase ventilation? A velux window is out of the question, as we're in a conservation area and the layout of our tiny house (in a back-to-back terrace) means building regs would be a nightmare.

I've had a look around the net and came across a 'windcatcher', but this looks like it needs to be on the top of the roof and ideally we need to install something on one side of the roof out of view. I'm really clueless about where to start with this, so any ideas would be very welcome. At this stage, cost isn't too much of an issue (within reason!).

Thanks,
Susie

Heath_Robinson

I wonder how well insulating it would work? Insulate the rafters, maybe starting with a foil backed layer, this should keep it cooler in summer and warmer in winter?

On the other hand it may mean that heat rising through your house has knowhere to go?

It would depend what theprimary source of heat is, the roof tiles heating up or heat rising through the house.

SMBW

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we're going to insulate it (I got a load of great insulation from freecycle ), but I've been wondering the same about trapping the heat. I think that the heat up there is a combination of roof and rising heat, as it's generally warmer than the rest of the house all year round.

The 'windcatcher' thing brings cool air in and lets warm air out (looks very eco-friendly, too), but I think it's too instrusive to get past the planning dept. Has anyone come across any other ventilation systems like this?

sneekymum

In the conversion of a loft a great deal of trouble is taken over insulation, ventilation and the loadbearing properties of the new floor.

Perhaps whoever provided the design for the new floor (I assume you haven't put boards on top of ceiling joists which were only designed to take the weight of plasterboard) could provide details of how to insulate and ventilate in such a way that the roof timbers are protected against rot from condensation.

SMBW

We haven't actually boarded the loft yet, but we did get the joists checked by a friend who is a structural engineer and he said they were fine for what we wanted to do. He doesn't know anything about ventilation, though.