So I just bought a house and discovered the upstairs was what felt like 5-10 degrees difference from the main level. I'll try and add pictures of the insulation below. It seems well done but for some reason it's still very hot up there. I'm an hour away from Canada located in the far north of Minnesota so my climate zone is very cold. Not only do I worry about the heat in the summer right now but I'm also worried about it's performance this winter. It seems like it has adequate insulation, R-39 on the attic floor and around the 20 mark for the knee walls if not more. It has a ridge and soffit vents however the soffit vents seem small to me? There are quite a few of them however.
So I think the issue lies in either poor ventilation or poor air sealing, maybe both. The other issue could be that there's only 2 AC vents in the entire upstairs. One in each bedroom and no return vents anywhere (the upstairs consists of a large master suite, a walk in closet, and one smaller bedroom).
What do you think the problem is?
I want to check to see if they smothered the soffit vents or didn't allow for ventilation on the slanted part of the knee wall. I also want to seal the power outlets, switches, etc with spray foam. Should it be fire rated foam? The next thing to look at is air sealing but I would hate to have to tear into a wall insulation job done so well and have to redo horizontal fiberglass like that.
And yes I know I have to fix that pipe venting into the attic.
(EDIT)
Okay so I climbed into what little attic I have access too and found that the soffit vents are not working as it's clogged by insulation. Under the Fiberglass is dense pack cellulose, quite a few inches of it, well above the joists. In the addition they did put air channels to the ridge vents but the only supply with the soffits clogged is a small gable vent. In the older part of the house, the room with the pipe in the picture there's no ventilation to speak of. Soffits most likely clogged I didn't climb all the way to it. There's nothing connecting this space to the mini attic above, where the ridge vents are.
Best Answer
The soffits need to be cleared of their insulation. Otherwise you risk having mold forming due to the humidity not being able to get out.
There should be vent baffles installed to allow the air to continue to flow over the insulation.
You may have an HVAC contractor install additional events to push more air into the area.