You may be curious as to why ventilation is important – ventilation is very important for many reasons.
In order to fight heat and moisture, homes in all climates must be ventilated year-round.
Heat in unventilated attics may cause temperatures to exceed 150 degrees. This can cause damage to shingles, roof sheathing, and also radiate down into the living area.
Moisture is a home’s #1 enemy, and can cause rot, mildew, mold, paint blister and ineffective insulation.
It is estimated that over 50% of homes show visible signs of improper ventilation.
Proper ventilation reduces energy bills, winter ice build up, and eliminates mold and mildew, which can lead to major health problems. Ventilating the attic space extends the life of shingles, insulation, and other building components
3 Must Do Steps to Attic Ventilation
Determining how to ventilate a home can seem like a daunting task if unfamiliar with ventilation systems, but we have “3 Must Do Steps to Attic Ventilation” to help. The three must do steps listed below are common to all ventilation systems; these steps can also be found printed on our instructions and product boxes.
3 Must Do Steps to Attic Ventilation
1. Install all exhaust ventilation at the same height within a common attic area.
It is very important to install all exhaust vents at the same height or level – installation of exhaust vents at more than one level on a roof allows the upper exhaust vents to pull air from lower exhaust vents instead of the intake vents. This can cause damaging weather infiltration to a home or structure.
Intake air must come from intake vents located near the lower part of the attic space to properly ventilate the total attic area and eliminate weather infiltration.
2. Install only one type of exhaust ventilation within a common attic area.
Exhaust vents pull air from the easiest intake source; therefore vent types cannot be mixed. The use of different types of exhaust vents could make one of the exhaust vents act as intake for the other.
As previously stated in step one, intake air must come from intake vents located near the lower part of the attic space to properly ventilate the total attic area and eliminate weather infiltration.
3. Install a balanced system of intake and exhaust ventilation.
50% intake ventilation – Intake vents located near the lower part of the attic area are required to balance out a ventilation system.
50% exhaust ventilation – Use a ventilation selector guide to determine the number of vents needed to properly ventilate an attic to the ventilation minimum property standards.