How To Vent An Attic Space

A hot ceiling tells you that the attic is acting like a solar oven.

How to vent an attic space.

Outside air enters the attic space through soffit or eave vents rises through the attic space as it warms and exits through vents that are positioned at or near the top. Look at your eaves and roof. Here are four signs of an unventilated or under ventilated attic. The venting path is essentially the same air flows up from the eaves and out at the ridge but creating a vent channel under the roof deck can be challenging.

For this method to be most effective approximately equal amounts of ventilation should be placed at the soffits or eave level and at or near the top of the attic space. Obviously more research is needed but here s what we do know. Venting the roof deck. If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the.

If you want to turn the attic into conditioned space or you ve got a room with a cathedral vaulted ceiling insulating and ventilating become more complex. Attic vents were developed to help deal with this problem of too much heat accumulating in unfinished attics where it doesn t belong. In addition insulation baffles must be installed at the point where the attic floor meets the roofline to prevent the attic insulation from migrating into the cavities and restricting the airflow from the soffit vents. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape.

So if your attic is 25 by 15 you ll need 2 5 feet of vent space. There are many different kinds on the market today but they all have the same end goal of moving cooler outside air into your attic and pushing that hotter air out known as the stack effect. Your actual living space is sealed. Don t avoid ventilating your attic for fear you re letting cold air into the house.

To determine the area multiply the length times the width in feet. Then divide the total area by 150 to find the total amount of vent space needed for your attic. These fans may be controlled by a switch or a thermostat which detects heat build up in the attic space and. Fans and vents may be installed on the roof system that will draw the air out of the attic space and exhaust it to the exterior.

To choose the proper ventilation system for your attic you ll first need to know the total area of your attic. If you don t see any attic vents on the roof or in the eaves you need to add some.