01-24-2010, 03:10 PM
Since the subject of vapor barriers has arisen a couple fo times in this thread, I've been doing some thinking.
Let's compare the average temp in Houston against the average temp in say, chicago, by month, from January to December.
Houston: 50, 54, 61, 68, 75, 80, 83, 82, 78, 70, 61, 54
Chicago: 21, 25, 37, 49, 59, 69, 73, 71, 64, 53, 40, 27
Of course, it is warmer in the day, cooler at night. In Houston, the daily high is going to be 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the average temp shown. So, for most of the year, we are running our air conditioners, meaning it is cooler inside than outside for most of the year. I think the opposite can be said for chicago. It is probably cooler outside than inside for most of the year because the heaters are running instead of the air conditioners. So on that note, I can see that Chicago homes need a vapor barrier. But as mentioned in the previous thread, a vapor barrier in Houston is prabably a hindrance, or maybe it would need to be on the outside of the house?
So it appears that the compromise is either Tyvek house wrap or tarpaper on the outside, insualtion with kraft paper attached on the inside. And I've never ever seen any condensation issues here in southeast Texas.
What does this have to do with trains? Well, we gotta keep them babies dry, don't we?
Let's compare the average temp in Houston against the average temp in say, chicago, by month, from January to December.
Houston: 50, 54, 61, 68, 75, 80, 83, 82, 78, 70, 61, 54
Chicago: 21, 25, 37, 49, 59, 69, 73, 71, 64, 53, 40, 27
Of course, it is warmer in the day, cooler at night. In Houston, the daily high is going to be 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the average temp shown. So, for most of the year, we are running our air conditioners, meaning it is cooler inside than outside for most of the year. I think the opposite can be said for chicago. It is probably cooler outside than inside for most of the year because the heaters are running instead of the air conditioners. So on that note, I can see that Chicago homes need a vapor barrier. But as mentioned in the previous thread, a vapor barrier in Houston is prabably a hindrance, or maybe it would need to be on the outside of the house?
So it appears that the compromise is either Tyvek house wrap or tarpaper on the outside, insualtion with kraft paper attached on the inside. And I've never ever seen any condensation issues here in southeast Texas.
What does this have to do with trains? Well, we gotta keep them babies dry, don't we?
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