Do Ridge Vents Reduce Heat In Attic

What role do attic fans play in ventilation.

Do ridge vents reduce heat in attic. The inside air moves through the ridge vest underneath the cap shingle to escape from the side and into the general atmosphere. Without baffles blinders that prevent outside air from crossing over the vent a ridge vent may create almost no ventilation at all. Creating a more even cooling effect. This will keep your attic cooler which will reduce the cooling load on your home.

However if your moisture problem is not extreme it may give you just enough ventilation to avoid more drastic measures such as a. The ridge vent is at the roof peak where hot attic air is least dense so it naturally flows up and out. This type of vent runs along the entire ridge of your roof. In addition to vents your attic s ventilation system can also benefit from fans.

We closed off eliminated the ridge vents and installed powered vents on thermostats. But even good ventilation won t be able to bring your attic heat level down to outdoor temperatures because the roof radiates heat into the attic. It is placed at the highest point of your roof so that the hot air rises to get out. Breezes over the top of the ridge vent cover create a low pressure area to draw even more air through the attic.

This happens because of the change in air pressure. However as a very old builder 70 years i have known cases where roof mounted attic fans have helped tremendously where the roof is a full hip and the ratio of ridge vents to soffit vents was way out of whack. Ventilation will cool down the attic proper ventilation will allow for air flow which can remove heat from the attic. The wind which blows over your roof will help to draw the hot moist air out of your attic when roof ridge vents are installed correctly.

Ridge vents sit along the length of the roof s horizontal ridges. Installation of a ridge vent in a home with gable vents will dramatically increase the ventilation of the attic though not as much as if soffit vents were installed. The radiant barrier is shown to reduce about 68 of the heat that is being radiated into the attic. Static roof line vents are effective for ventilation but generally aren t recommended due to issues with leaks.

Yet there are a few. Exhaust vents releasing all of the heat that rises and gets trapped in the attic can be achieved with one or a combination of the three following vent models in addition to the multipurpose gable. Gable vents may circulate air through only a small percentage of your attic.