Proper Attic Ventilation

Moisture in your attic can lead to condensation and in turn mold and wood rot. Attic moisture issues generally start from moisture generated in your home. For example, your daily activities such as cooking, showering and laundry all create moisture. All this warm moisture rises and finds its way into your attic space through open gaps and cracks. 

Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans are highly effective at removing moisture. However, these fans are sometimes installed improperly with the fans exhausting into the attic. These fans should exhaust through a roof cap directly to the outside. If these fans are installed improperly by venting into your attic, they could cause issues with moisture in your attic space and potentially costly damage.

Heat in the attic may not be visible but you can certainly feel it! On a hot summer day your attic can reach temperatures as high as 150 degrees. This extreme heat is not energy efficient. Additionally, it can also lead to issues with your home.

This excessive heat in an attic also heats the home’s structure. This heat can affect the structure of your home and your roof. It can also increase the temperature of your living space. This can create a heavy workload on your HVAC system as it tries to keep up with the increasing heat. As you know, this increase in AC usage increases your energy consumption and cost. This excessive heat increases the potential for roof damage as well. Asphalt shingles will deteriorate in extreme heat generated inside the home as well as the heat from the sun.

Passive ventilation is open intake and exhaust points with no mechanical assistance to increase air circulation or air exchange. This type of ventilation requires a great number of soffit openings and an extensive ridge vent. Furthermore, It is important to ensure the soffits are open and insulation is not blocking the openings. This sometimes occurs during installation. So, check your soffits to ensure the insulation is not blocking the openings and pulling air from your living space. Likewise, a ridge vent alone does not always turn over the air at a fast enough rate to reduce heat. In some roof styles the ridge vent is not long enough to provide a large enough exhaust point to exchange the air quickly enough to be effective.

Although it may seem like a simple energy efficient option, it may still not be enough ventilation to effectively turn over the air quickly enough to reduce moisture and heat.

Active ventilation is the process of assisting air movement from an intake point, usually soffits or gables, and exhausting out at the highest point of the attic. Therefore, mechanical assistance increases the rate in which air is exchanged. This increase in air movement is important in effectively turning over the air quickly to reduce heat and moisture buildup.

It is important to ensure that your attic fan is not overpowered. The best option for your attic is to spread several ATMOX fans across the space to keep from pulling air from the living space and ensure a balanced airflow. Furthermore, distributed airflow is important to achieve proper ventilation and reach all areas of the attic to prevent moisture and heat buildup in the space. This is especially critical in addressing attic moisture as those problems often arise in lower levels of the attic or only one side of the house.