A roofing vent helps pull out the hot air and moisture from your home. If you had an airtight home, well insulated, without one, you’d notice that mildew and mold would develop. It can ruin your home, especially the attic area where most hot air and moisture collects. If you have adequate ventilation in the roof, you lower your costs of cooling the house since it will allow the hot air to escape.
Roofing vents help to make your roof last longer also. Since the hot air escapes the attic area, there’s less chance of snow thawing and refreezing on the shingles of the house. This causes damage and eventually leaks in the roof.
There are two types of roofing vents. The first type is the passive option. The passive variety use only the air movement to work. Ridge, soffits, flat, pot and turbines are all examples of passive vents. The other is an active alternative that uses solar power or electricity to power them. These are the solar and exhaust fans.
There are a number of different designs of roofing vents from which to choose. Some of the traditional ones aren’t as effective as the manufacturer claims. For instance, a continuous ridge vent travels along the upper ridge of the roof. In some of the models, the hot air must go up and then travel downward to escape and transfer to the outside. If you know anything about hot air, you know it moves up. The movement toward the vent is perfectly logical, but if the design requires the air to move down again to escape, most probably the roofing vent is not as effective as the manufacturer would like you to believe.
This doesn’t mean that all continuous ride versions are ineffective. You have to look at the design thoroughly before you make your selection. Simply make certain that the air pattern for the vent does not require any of the hot air to travel down.
There are other types of roofing vents to consider. Some of them have moving parts to aid in the circulation of the air in the attic. Of these types, the three most popular are the solar powered roof vent, powered roof vent fans and the turbine vent. In addition, you have the static traditional mushroom vents sometimes called pot vents.
On big advantage of the turbine vent is that it works with no outside power but can do its job 24 hours a day. Unlike the solar powered that often has limitations; the wind powers the turbine vent. It doesn’t require a lot of wind to work and even a slight breeze causes the vent to move and circulate the air.
Most people find that using a number of different types helps to prevent heat build up in the summer and prevents the formation of ice dams in the winter. Not only that, a good ventilation system also prevents the hazard of mold and mildew in the house. You owe it to your family to look for the most practical and effective systems. Sometimes, that means you simply use more than one style of roofing vent.
I write about roofing vents at http://www.toproofingsite.com.
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