Expert Advice for your Lawn & Garden TV Host of Today's Homeowner® and home expert for The Weather ChannelAttics and Basements, Heating and Cooling, Interior, Exterior Published 09/07/2007 by Danny Lipford
Attic ventilation is crucial to the longevity of your roof and can help to lower your energy bill as well. Vents may be located in gables, under eaves, along the ridge of the house, or cut into the roof itself.
Hot air in your attic may not seem like such a bad thing in the winter, but it contains moisture that can condense and cause long term problems. In summer, heat in the attic not only makes your air conditioner work harder, but it also cooks roof shingles from the underside and reduces their life.
Continuous ridge vents have become popular in recent years for good reason. Since hot air rises, it’s important to locate the vent as close to the peak of the roof as possible, and nothing is higher than the ridge. While they come in a number of different types, one system uses a fiber mat laid along the ridge with shingle tabs mounted over it. A narrow slot cut in the ridge allows hot air in the attic to escape while keeping insects and rain out.
In order for ridge vents to be effective, you need a supply of fresh air coming in from the soffit under the roof’s overhang. Soffit vents are available in a number of styles including round and rectangular metal vents, integrated vinyl soffit vent panels, or continuous trench vents. By combining both soffit and ridge vents, you can create a constant flow of cool, dry air through your attic in both winter and summer.
Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford® is brought to you by:
October 27th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Mechanical ventilation (fans).These are seldom checked most of them have a thermostat-which tends to fail over the years.These should be on the check list when your AC check up is due.some fans have dampers which open with the fan.If the fan tstat is broken then 0 air is moving and can buckle the roof around the fan opening,because of the metal,which expands and contracts at a faster rate than the wood.When you get the xmas tree down check the fan-its worth the 5 min.
John Cannamela
Go green with Infrared
www.infraredsurvey.com
November 14th, 2007 at 2:49 am
I think the best way is by install ridge vents,the full lenght of the house , LIVING QUARTERS. This way the heat in between trusses or rafters can escape throught the ridge vents.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:00 am
To get hot air from your attic is to install a ridge vent an check if there are thru vents an soffit vents .
November 25th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
we have round vents under our soffit they need to be replaced where can we buy them in fort myers florida or on line .thanks barbara
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hi I have gable end vents and no soffit vents i intend to do a new roof soon with a ridge vent do i need soffit vents or what other procees should i use. Bob
February 5th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Within the past two years we had new roofing paper and shingles installed on our 9/12 pitch roof. This was not an overlay. At the same time we had the turtle vents removed and continous roof vents installed. We left the soffit vents and the gable end vent on the north east side intact (only one gable end because of chimney). Shortly after the shingles were installed we climbed through the access hole to check the inside of the roof. We found a great deal of mold, primarily over the bathroom located on the south west side of the house. However, we feel certain the mold was there before new shingles were installed.
We treated the mold with a solution of bleach and water which killed the mold. We checked a few months later and the mold had not reappeared.
Later, I was told that the gable end vent should be closed off as it did not work well with ridge vent. I did close the gable end with foil and duct tape. The soffits are vinyl and have very small vent holes that are not visible under beadwork that runs perpindicular to the house.
We have a r-19 factor attic insulation (at least) on 2nd floor celinig.
The bathroom fan vents empty into the soffit.
Now several months (7 or
after we last checked we find the mold is back.
We have questions.
1. Should I uncover the gable end vent even though we have ridge vent in place?
2. Do you feel the bleach and water solution sprayed on the mold with a garden sprayer will defeat the mold? Or are we going to end up replacing the sheeting and shingles?
3. Will an attic vent fan help?
4. Is attic mold a common problem in newer homes?
Thank you,
Bill
February 27th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Check for leaks around your chimney if it is at that area. I think the issue may be your bathroom exhaust fan (assuming you have one). Sometimes these are vented directly into the attic. It should really have an insulated duct connected to it that goes to the outside wall through a weather-proof cover like on your clothes dryer vent. Keep in mind sloping the duct to the outside wall too because you are bound to get a little condensation in it. You want to drain outside, not settle in low spots or drain back into the bathroom. Keeping gable vent closed makes sense to me. Make sure your soffit vents aren’t plugged up with dust/dirt or bugs and you should be good to go. Good luck, Karl
March 9th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I AM INSTALLING INSULATION AGAINST THE ROOF DECKING IN MY ATTIC. I PUT STYROFOAM BAFFLES IN FIRST TO ALLOW AIR FLOW TO THE RIDGE VENT. SHOULD I BE ABLE TO FEEL THE FLOW COMING UP FROM THE EAVES? IF NOT PERHAPS I NEED BETTER SOFFIT VENTS. ALSO, HOW FAR UP FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE ROOF SHOULD I PLACE THE STYROFOM BAFFLES?