Vent Attic Or Not

You need to some way of getting rid of it otherwise the attic will turn into a moldy mess.

Vent attic or not.

According to the homeowners trade resource center htrc a properly conditioned and sealed attic will eliminate the formation of ice dams. However the opposite is true if the attic floor is air sealed and insulated. Attic fans can be useful if you don t have proper passive ventilation. As such it would seem venting the attic would increase the potential for condensation.

In an attic the primary driving force is the buoyancy of warm air rising in the vault of the roof. Should you vent a metal roof. Even when outside air is hot and humid if the attic space is air sealed from the interior it is much hotter than outside air. You ll need to vent your attic because water vapor showers laundry people will still migrate through the ceiling into the attic space.

However most varieties require electricity to operate need proper upkeep and can be noisy. Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool. The other option of course is a vented attic which requires an equal balance of intake and exhaust vents. If water or air ducts run through your attic space they are less likely to be affected by extreme temperatures and this can save you money on utility costs.

As the warm air escapes through vents high on the roof cooler air enters the lower vents. Generally speaking you need a ratio of 1 300 where for every 300 square feet of ceiling space you need 1 square foot of attic ventilation. In many cases for existing homes this is the easier way to go. That said air resistance and interference such as vent grates reduces the area of true ventilation.

If you ve accidentally painted over air vents insulated soffit venting or covered up an exhaust port then an attic fan can be helpful to move air around. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.