Attic Exhaust Fans Vs Ridge Vents

Best ventilation is open soffit venting to a open vented ridge vent.

Attic exhaust fans vs ridge vents.

Do not use mechanical means electric attic fans. What makes ridge vents so effective is how they run the length of your roof. For optimal performance ridge vents require soffit venting to bring air up and out the top of the roof. In a properly designed passive system air enters through the soffit vents rises by convection in the attic and exits through the vents in the roof or gables.

One insists on using the ridge vents with no exhaust and the other sides with the use of exhaust fans. That depends on your roof. Ridge vents are an ideal solution to ventilation in an ideal attic. More than 50 of the attic fans i see do not work and have current still live to the motor.

Taking advantage of this natural process referred to as passive ventilation is the most common way to vent an attic. A ridge vent is a passive system and offers less air movement and in moderate climates this style tends to be sufficient. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape. Without any air movement temperatures in the attic soar in summer and plunge in winter.

As warm air rises in your attic fresh air is drawn in through soffit vents. In more extreme climates one or more turbines will provide better circulation. Ridge vent vs solar attic fan. In the case of ridge vents when heat builds up inside the attic it makes sense that there should be a means of moving the hot air out other than relying on natural ventilation especially if there is little to no air movement outside.

Like attic fans ridge vents are designed to exhaust air that is already inside the attic. A ridge vent or a solar attic fan. One of the leading causes for fires. Without ventilation unfinished attic spaces can end up having stagnant air.

Fans are needed only when there isn. Ridge vents are a passive system simply allowing hot air to rise up through them rather than pushing it out as a fan does.