How Do I Vent My Attic

Whole house fans powered attic fans.

How do i vent my attic.

Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents. 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. Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool air to enter the attic. Building codes typically require 1 square foot of venting space for every 150 square feet.

How to check attic ventilation calculate net free vent space. Simply secure the vent into place with screws and your vent is complete. Most ridge vents use an external baffle system that s designed to pull in cool air and push out warm air regardless of wind direction and force outside. Then divide the total area by 150 to find the total amount of vent space needed for your attic.

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. If your attic is not sufficiently vented you probably won t have to look very hard to find signs. A hot ceiling tells you that the attic is acting like a solar oven. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape.

It does this by creating an area of low pressure on both sides of the vent which pulls the hot air right out of the attic. The use of an exhaust vent in conjunction with an intake vent uses the natural forces of wind pressure and thermal effect collectively known as the stack effect to ventilate the attic space. Look at your eaves and roof. Touch your ceiling on a warm sunny day.

Set your circular saw at 1 8 inch 0 4 cm greater than the thickness of your roof s soffit when installing an intake vent. 25 x 15 375 and 375 140 2 5. Exhaust vents which are located near or on the ridge line of the roof and allow air to leave the attic. To determine the area multiply the length times the width in feet.

Inspect the vent openings. After creating a space for the vent line the hole with caulk and place the vent inside. These fans may be controlled by a switch or a thermostat which detects heat build up in the attic space and. If you don t see any attic vents on the roof or in the eaves you need to add some.