Ventilation

The Many Advantages of Proper Attic Ventilation

While many people may believe that having their home completely sealed is the best way to reduce energy costs, the fact is that proper attic ventilation can help solve a multitude of problems. Regardless of the type of roofing materials, the sun beats down on a house and heats the air in the attic, sometimes up to over 160-degrees, damaging any insulation and creeping into the house through the ceiling.

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(Cobra) Ridge Vents

Imagine a home without proper ventilation. Stagnant, stuffy, musty. A home without a lack of good, healthy airflow can be a slightly suffocating experience.

You might have experienced the effect of improper ventilation after coming home from a vacation. You securely lock all of the doors and windows but when you return and walk in the front door, your first thought is usually to open a window and let in some fresh air. That is a minor but valuable lesson in the importance of ventilation.

But even if you aren’t on vacation and away from home for a week, ventilation is still important to maintaining a comfortable home. The proper flow of air can not only bring in a healthy supply of oxygen into a home, but also serve as an inexpensive form of air conditioning, cooling your home and helping you cut your electrical bills.

But to properly ventilate a large home, it takes more than just cracking a window. It takes a precise system of vents and ducts that can maximize the flow of air throughout your home and bring freshness to even the most remote corners of your house.

One of the most important areas requiring ventilation in your home is the attic. Because heat rises, the attic can be one of the most overheated rooms in your house. Not only does the heat from lower floors (generated by ovens, appliances, the sun, even your own body), rise upward to the attic, but the sun’s rays pounding your home from the outside also can heat up an attic. Add proper ventilation in the form of a vent to let the heat out and fresh air in and you can cool off your home easily and efficiently.

There are several attic ventilation systems available including:

(Cobra) Ridge Vents

A ridge vent is a ventilation system that many home improvement professionals believe to be the most efficient home venting system you can own. A ridge vent runs the entire length of the peak of the roof on a house and deftly blends into the design of the roof. The vents allow the heat and hot air that rises in your home to the attic a place to escape. The result is a cooler home in the summer with minimal need for air conditioning. Cobra ridge vents by GAF are a properly balanced vent system that can not only give excess heat a place to escape but allow excess moisture a place to escape as well. Also, by eliminating heat build-up inside your attic you prevent it from combining with the heat coming from the outside to prematurely age your roof and contributing to possible root rot.

Exhaust Vent

Cobra Ridge Exhaust Vent

One of the most important and overlooked aspects of roofing is the exhaust vent. Exhaust vents remove excess heat, prevent roof rot, limit mold growth, and can even reduce heating and air conditioning costs.

The Cobra Ridge Exhaust Vent from GAF does all of these things and more. Made with recycled fiber, the Cobra Exhaust Vent for Roof Ridges is environmentally friendly and doesn’t negatively affect a roof’s appearance. This is because of the shingle-over design, which makes the exhaust vent almost invisible.

The Cobra Exhaust Vent also fulfills all standard requirements for exhaust vents, allowing heat and condensation to escape the attic. This safeguards the home and protects any possessions that may be stored in the attic area.

Master Flow Louvers

To many people, house ventilation is simply a way to make their home comfortable for them. They can escape the heat of the summer by simply opening a vent and allowing built-up hot air to travel outwards, permitting cooler air to circulate. Or they can draw heat from lower floors up to bedrooms on the second floor, thus reducing the need for extensive heating to warm those areas.

But did you know that proper ventilation can also prevent damage to your home, damage that, if left unchecked, can result in the need for expensive repairs?

(Master Flow) Power Attic Fans

Circulating air through your house not only is the key to keeping it cool in the summer but it also has positive implications in the winter as well. So to successfully ventilate your home, you need to move the air (called “air exchange”) in the most efficient manner possible. Which makes an attic fan a must-have for any homeowner, and a power fan even more of an essential.

In addition to making your home more comfortable in the summer and winter, attic fans can have other benefits as well. They can help reduce your energy costs by lowering the need for air conditioning and actually help prolong the life of your roof by helping to prevent debilitating conditions that can age your roof faster than normal.

Rotary Turbine Vents

Combining the best elements of the power vent and the louver vent, rotary turbine vents forcefully draw hot hair and humidity out of the attic but do so in a “green” way – powered by the wind itself. Homeowners who are concerned about the environmental impact their house is making are finding non-electric rotary turbine vents the solution to their specific home ventilation needs.

Rotary vents work simply by the natural forces of the air and wind around us. All it takes is a breeze (of at least five miles per hour) to help the rotary turbine vent to do its job. The slight breeze catches in the specially-shaped vents on the rotary turbine vent and turn the top of the vent. As it does so, it draws out hot air and humidity, keeping your home cool. And it does so non-electronically, keeping your energy costs low while utilizing the power of the wind.

Snow Country Advanced Exhaust Vent

Cobra Snow Country Advanced Exhaust Vent

The Cobra Snow Country Advanced Exhaust Vent is the best choice for anyone living in an area that regularly experiences harsh winter weather. The Snow Guard technology prevents snow infiltration, even in the harshest winters.