How Does Roof Ventilation Work

Attic fans are intended to cool hot attics by drawing in cooler outside air from attic vents soffit and gable and pushing hot air to the outside.

How does roof ventilation work.

Attic must have 5 sq. Now that we ve reviewed how ventilation works and how a roof can be properly vented let s expand on the benefits of roof ventilation. Let owens corning roofing help you calculate exactly how much ventilation you will need for a healthy and balanced attic with our 4 step ventilation calculator. Attic ventilation fans help cool air your attic by pushing out the stifling hot air from inside the attic and bringing in cool air from outside.

3 benefits of roof ventilation 1. How does roof ventilation work. Using inside air via ceiling ventilation to feed a roof ventilation device encourages hot summer air from outside via windows doors and other points of air leakage to come inside overloading your air conditioning system. The home does not have an endless supply of cold air available for ventilating through a whirly bird.

Drip edge vents are a two in one installation that promote water shedding at the eaves and rakes of a roof while also allowing for ventilation into the attic. These can be ridge vents wind turbines or the flat vents your roofer wants to install. Sure installing roof vents for older homes can reduce your hot air during the summer but there are probably more low risk cost effective ways to increase your home s energy. However if your attic has blocked soffit vents and is not well sealed from the rest of the house attic fans will suck cool conditioned air up out of the house and into the.

When exploring the best attic ventilation practices consider installing an attic ventilation fan to keep the hot air from settling in. The intake vents work with ridge vents to allow cool air to enter the attic space forcing warm air to exit through the ridge vents. Calculate or enter the square footage of the attic or area to be vented. Extends the life of your roof.

Good attic ventilation is important for preventing ice dams in the winter. If you don t have soffits or your roof style doesn t allow for soffit vents some homeowners will consider a drip edge vent. Good roof ventilation can do this but shingle color sun exposure and insulation are exponentially more important to overall energy efficiency than ventilation. Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool.

Ft of vent space half dedicated for air intake in the soffits and the other half for exhaust on the roof. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.