Have you considered the importance of attic and roof ventilation to your home’s overall performance, including energy efficiency? Probably not. Ventilation is an unfamiliar or remote concept to most homeowners. However, it has a significant impact on your comfort level. Poor ventilation will cause interior spaces to feel stuffy or drafty. Quality attic and roof vents allow your home to breathe correctly.
Every home needs sufficient ventilation to ensure maximum comfort and enjoyment. Attic and roof ventilation also helps a home in other ways, including the following:
Your heating and cooling systems depend on quality indoor air circulation to avoid an excess workload. Proper ventilation removes excess heat buildup in attic spaces while allowing cool, refreshing air to enter your home. With appropriate ventilation, your furnace and air conditioning unit will not overwork, preventing high utility bills.
Sufficient ventilation helps promote a healthy indoor environment by eliminating the excess accumulation of condensation, moisture, and other harmful allergens and pollutants. Roof ventilation also removes excess humidity, helping prevent the formation of mildew and mold.
Excess moisture buildup in a home is an invitation for structural issues. Most homes have a wood-based component to the frame. Wood cannot be consistently exposed to water without resulting in damage such as warping and rotting. Adequate ventilation reduces the possibility of water-related challenges.
An optimally performing roof depends on sufficient ventilation to eliminate troubling issues. Proper ventilation can avoid premature degradation of surface and sublayer roofing materials due to excess moisture accumulation and heat buildup. Attic and roof vents also prevent problems like mold growth and ice dam formation.
Roof ventilation comes in two forms: intake venting and exhaust venting. Intake ventilation pulls in cool, fresh air from outside to replenish a home’s attic spaces where excess heat buildup typically occurs. It reduces the risk of overburdening your HVAC system and ice dam formation, among other concerns.
Conversely, exhaust ventilation expels hot, moist air from the upper spaces of your home to the outside. Without adequate exhaust venting, excess condensation will foster moisture damage, wood rot, and mold growth. Most exhaust vents are placed at your roof’s ridge points where warm air customarily rises and settles.
The average homeowner does not consider how much attic or roof ventilation is necessary. Asking these questions, however, will help a homeowner know the appropriate number of vents for their home:
Most vent manufacturers recommend a system with equal intake (ideally via the soffits) and exhaust ventilation. For example, if you have 1,500 square feet of attic floor space, you divide 1,500 by 300. In this instance, you will need at least 5 square feet of attic ventilation. One-half of that total is 2.5 square feet. You should incorporate 2.5 square feet of intake ventilation and 2.5 square feet of exhaust ventilation.
The International Residential Code (IRC) states that a single-family home needs at least one square foot of ventilation for every 300 square feet of attic space. For a low-slope home or a pitched roof lacking a vapor barrier, the ventilation requirement should be doubled (i.e., at least one square foot of ventilation for every 150 square feet of attic space). This calculation factors both intake and exhaust ventilation.
Many roofing professionals believe that a roof’s pitch and corresponding volume of space in the attic play a major role in determining the appropriate amount of ventilation. A highly-pitched roof (with additional attic space) generally requires more ventilation than a low-sloped roof (6:12 or less). A higher-pitched roof (7:12 to 12:12) should incorporate 20-30% more ventilation than a less-pitched roof.
The homeowner needs a coordinated plan to ensure proper ventilation. Intake ventilation generally comes in two forms: soffit vents and roof-mounted vents. A home and roof’s design may determine the feasibility of either option. Exhaust ventilation allows hot, humid air to exit your home. Ridge vents are a popular choice. However, box vents, roof turbines (i.e., whirlybirds), and cupola vents remain viable alternatives.
At Stevens Roofing Corp, we deliver the perfect answers for your roofing challenges. Our team of dedicated professionals understands the importance of accurately identifying issues and developing long-term solutions that ensure your satisfaction.
Contact Stevens Roofing today to learn more about the benefits of quality attic and roof ventilation or to schedule an appointment and receive a free roof estimate.
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