Attic Without Ventilation

Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.

Attic without ventilation.

Attic ventilation fans whether hard wired or powered by their own solar panels seem like a low cost and effective way to help keep your house cool. Can still get blazing hot without airflow. These fixed venting units have a lot of advantages over the other venting options. If the attic ventilation system is not a balanced combination of intake vents installed in the soffit under eave or at the roof s bottom edge and exhaust vents installed at or near the roof s peak the attic ventilation system will not be efficient and effective.

The downside of attic ventilation fans. My concern is can an attic vent flow be to large and let water in and does spray insulation keep attic protected by leak in. For more information on ventilation and moisture control read this article i wrote on proper attic ventilation it s my position that you should have a proper ventilation system in your attic and that you should always take the time to air seal the floor of the attic. Gable vents may circulate air through only a small percentage of your attic.

The industry standard among milwaukee roofing contractors is for roof ventilation to provide 1 square foot of intake ventilation and 1 square foot of exhaust or outflow ventilation for every 300 square feet of attic space provided the area is insulated with a vapor barrier. Many years ago home builders were simply unaware of the importance of attic ventilation this is why some older homes don t even have soffits. The airflow from the soffits to the ridge vent keeps the roof cool and prevents ice dams and the material will block that flow. For the same reason insulation shouldn t touch the roof s underside.

Even without soffit venting it is important to provide an air gap at the soffit level to help keep the roof deck dry. Sometimes a home without eaves or soffits will use ridge vents. Staple plastic or foam baffles to the roof sheathing near the eaves to keep the material away. Without baffles blinders that prevent outside air from crossing over the vent a ridge vent may create almost no ventilation at all.

However the utility of attic ventilation fans is actually quite a controversial topic. February 18 2016 at 8 36 pm ventilation is. How to vent an attic without eaves. 1 being out of balance.

A key benefit of venting the attic is that the approach is the same regardless of how creative your architect got with the roof. Good insulation reduces fan effectiveness. If you have an older home that has no soffits eaves or roof overhangs then there are a few different options to add venting to your attic.