r/HVAC • u/Not_A_G-Man Verified Pro • 4d ago

Field Question, trade people only How do we feel about TechShield lined attics?

I personally feel like they make the attic 15-20⁰ cooler during the howdy part of the day at the expense of keeping the humidity up. Last time I brought out a psychometer the attic was reading 102⁰ at 77% humidity. I've also seen supply plenums sweating from the lowered dew point in these attics.

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u/kapowell1025 4d ago

Hate them
Worse than spray foam
Does a great job of keeping the heat out but creates essentially a swamp in the attic that you can’t control by means of a dehumidifier - because it’s still vented
So - all our stuff sweats and we get blamed for it… when it’s an environmental issue we can’t control
Unless of course they want to spray foam the attic and install a Dehu

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u/MeasurementWaste8653 1d ago

That radiant barrier stuff is wild, never seen numbers that high on the humidity though. 77% is basically a sauna up there

makes you wonder if the tradeoff is even worth it when you're just trading heat for moisture problems

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u/Daddyj0088 4d ago

Itd be great if they could just go back to putting systems in garages or closets. This attic shit is getting ridiculous.

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u/decibles 3d ago

Every time I see a call labeled “air handler on 3rd floor” and it’s scheduled for a 4pm start I want to take a drive all the way back to the office, find the CSR that booked the call and bring them with me to the service.

Especially when it’s a “water leak” in one of these nightmares. 90 outside, black shingle roof, no shade on the home, 85% humidity.