Does Overloading an Attic with storage affect ventilation?

[Tyler59]

How does too much storage in attic affect ventilation and temperatures in the house? My attic has a lot of storage in it and I do not think the air conditioner is as effective because in the evenings, our house does not feel as cool as it should be. My husband disagrees and says this has nothing to do with the operation of the air conditioner.

[jon_k]

The house doesn't get its air from inside the attic (that would be insane, to pull blazing summer heat in to the air conditioner to get it only somewhat cool) but rather the house pulls its air from the walls. Usually houses have ducts in the walls and then a wall grate/plate for it to bring air in from within the house. E.G If this is what you are getting at -- no, air flow and intake for the a/c is not being affected by this

On the other hand if you are talking about the attic retaining more heat due to all the junk in the attic -- it is possible. With more stuff to absorb and retain heat, it could heat the attic up, and then the rest of the house heats up along with the attic. How much stuff exactly do you have? How large is your attic and what portion is taken up by junk? How tall does the junk go (from the bottom to top of the attic?)

I don't think the "junk" in the attic matters much. In either case, since you mentioned "its not cooling like it should" I would take a hose and spray the compressor unit for the A/C Outside. (Make sure the breaker is off to the unit or the thermostat in house is set to off) Spray in the vents and get all the dirt and grass out from it. If it still doesn't cool like it should, I'd get the freeon levels checked.