Home Ventilation

Ventilation is necessary in every home. It is what keeps your attic from overheating and your roof from being damaged. It is the process of moving hot, stale air from the attic and re-circulating fresh air into it. This is usually done with a hi-volume steady air flow.

Because heat rises and inadvertently winds up in the attic of a home in the summertime, a lack of ventilation can not only damage the roof of a home, but can also be considered a potential fire hazard.

Adequate ventilation will make your home much more cool and comfortable and will reduce the energy costs associated with cooling your home in warm weather. There are many different types of attic ventilation.

Whole House Fans

Whole house fans are used to circulate air throughout the entire house and up through the attic. Usually installed in a hallway ceiling that is central to the house, large flows of air are capable, generating a nice breeze in the home. The problem with these fans is two fold. Number one, they are incredibly noisy and greatly reduce ones ability to carry on normal conversation or watch television without turning the volume up. Number two, it is necessary to open windows when operating a whole house fan because they are capable of generating large amounts of pressure and have been known to break windows if there is no air for the fan to pull. Whole house fans are used most effectively at night to cool the house before the heat of the next day. If you have a basement in your home, leaving the door open to the basement in addition to opening windows will pull the naturally cool air from the basement throughout the home, speeding up the cooling process.

Foundation Vents

Foundation vents are used to remove moisture from the foundation of a home that is built on a concrete slab. There are several different types of foundation vent, the powered vent, the automatic vent, and the manual vent. All are effective in keeping the foundation dry and preventing mold buildup.

Ridge Vents

Ridge vents are a vent that is installed when the roof is put on. Installed under the shingles, the ridge vents leave an opening on the peak of the roof that runs from one end of the house to the other.

Continuous Soffit Vents

Soffit vents are installed in the eave of the house.

Power Vents

Powered attic vents are installed on the roof and make use of a thermostat to control attic heat. These can be powered by the homes electrical system or they can be solar powered.

Gable Mounted Power Attic Vent

These are electric vents and are installed high on the gable end of the house. This vent is also controlled by a thermostat and is used to control the heat levels in the attic.