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Types of Roof Ventilation
When you install roof ventilation, you’re extending the life of your shingles, preventing ice dams from forming, and keeping conditions in your attic nice and arid. This prevents moisture, wood rot, and mold problems in your home. Keeping your attic and roof well-ventilated doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a convection box vent either. Today there are more options than ever to achieve the highest functionality for your home. What kinds of ventilation are out there and which ones would be right for you?
The best roof ventilation systems don’t just extend the life of your roof, they help lower your home’s energy bills and make your house an overall healthier place to live. Different types of roof vents are more effective than others, but each type of vent has the basic task of either removing stale air from your attic space (exhaust) or bringing fresh air into your home (intake).
If you want to truly take advantage of the benefits of proper roof ventilation, then it is critical to have both intake and exhaust ventilation installed. However, in many cases it is not possible to have intake ventilation because of the home’s architecture. In these cases, having only exhaust is better than nothing! But for the sake of discussion, we can assume your roof’s design can structurally handle both intake and exhaust.
The Two Styles of Ventilation
It’s out with the old (air) and in with the new (air). In roofing just like in life, this is very refreshing and important strategy to have! Understanding how air naturally moves helps us realize why both intake and exhaust play a critical role in a roof’s venting ability. Knowing how the two work hand-in-hand is important before choosing which of types of roof vent systems are best for your home and budget.
Exhaust; Let That Stale Air Out
If the hot air is allowed to stagnant, it can lead to bad-smelling mildew and eventually mold. This is one of key reasons why ventilation is important to your home’s health, as mentioned above. Because hot air rises, exhaust-style vents are generally placed towards to top of your roof line. The most common exhaust vent used for modern roofing systems is the ridge vent. Ridge vents and other exhausts like them allow that hot, humid, moist stale air to exit your home but are only one half of any great venting strategy!
Intake; Bring That Fresh Air In
Hot air leaving your attic is important for your home’s health and roof’s longevity, but hot air is generally pretty stubborn! It doesn’t want to leave without being forced out, so we need something to act as a bouncer. Enter: cooler air. Cool, fresh air (in form of intake ventilation) is the other half of a great venting strategy. The cooler air comes into your attic space via intake vents that are placed lower on the roof line than the exhaust vents mentioned above. Because the cooler air enters underneath the hot air (and because hot air rises), the intake ventilation will help push the stubborn hot air out of the attic space. The cool air, by way of intake style vents (like a soffit) acts as our bouncer. As long as you have exhaust vents with a large enough surface area, then this cooler intake air will help thrust the hot air out of the home. In a perfect world, it’s all a complete cycle. Cool air in through the intake vents and hot air out through the exhaust!
What Happens If My Roof Doesn’t Have Proper Venting?
There are significant drawbacks that will affect your attic space, your roof, your home, and your lifestyle. They include:
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Poor indoor air quality due to dead air in the attic space (summer)
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Overburdened HVAC systems (air conditioning) forced to work harder to cool the second (and third, if applicable) floors of your home
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Extra moisture (in form of warm air) in the attic space
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Ice dams in the winter months, if you live in a colder climate
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Dry rot of roof sheathing
The Most Common Types Of Roof Vents
Now that we’ve covered the significance of venting your roof as well as the differences intake and exhaust style vents, it is time for an overview of the most frequently used roof venting systems out there.
When considering which roof vent is best to use as exhaust for your home, please consult with an experienced roofing specialist before making a final decision. Most folks install a new roof when they add roof vents, so it is important to get quotes from a trusted roofing contractor anyway.
Ridge Vents (Most Common Exhaust)
Ridge vents are the most commonly installed exhaust vents. If a ridge vent is not listed, make sure to ask which exhaust vent the contractor is planning to use and why it is most appropriate for your individual roofing project. A ridge vent sits at the peak of your roof and runs across the entire span of your roof line. Because ridge vents are located at the roof’s highest point, they are in prime position to let the hottest air escape the attic space. And because they run across the entire roof line, they generally have the surface area necessary for expelling large amounts of hot air.
Important: when used in combination with intake vents that sit at the bottom of your roof line (like a soffit vent), a ridge vent offers the best chance for vertical ventilation.
Soffit Vents
The soffit vent is a small opening that allows air to flow out of the attic and into the atmosphere. These soffit vents are typically found on the outside wall or roofline of a home, but can also be found in unfinished areas such as attics and crawl spaces.
Gable Vents
These are the panel-like vents that you see attacked vertically to the gable, or the triangular part attached between the two sides of a gable roof. This extra support is a good supplement to your ventilation exhaust system.
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Wind Turbines/”Whirlybirds”
Off-Ridge Vents
