Attic Ventilation In The Winter

Unless your roofing system has insulation on the roofing deck and is designed without ventilation your furnace should not be heating your attic.

Attic ventilation in the winter. Roof vents allow air to circulate through your attic and exit your home. Air is drawn in through the attic fan and air is expelled through the roof vent system to keep your attic cooler and drier preventing ice and moisture issues throughout the winter. Attic ventilation in the winter. Effective attic ventilation systems reduce damaging heat and moisture in your attic promote energy efficiency by helping to reduce the load on your air conditioner in the summer and also reduce the risk of ice dam formation on your roof.

Snow melts and the water refreezes on the cold eaves creating ice dams. Attic ventilation fans offer mechanical ventilation using a fan to draw in cool outside air and force out warm moist air. The problem isn t not enough attic ventilation the solution isn t more attic ventilation. Thick ridges of ice on your eaves in winter are a sign of poor attic ventilation.

In the winter the vents will cause the attic to become cold but this should not damage your home or increase the energy use of your home so covering the roof vents is not necessary. In the winter allowing a natural flow of outdoor air to ventilate the attic helps keep it cold which reduces the potential for ice damming snow that melts off a roof from an attic that is too warm and then re freezes at the gutters causing an ice dam that can damage the roof. See the benefits of attic ventilation a new roof is more than just shingles. Poor insulation is usually the culprit although if you enter the attic on sunny winter day your attic space can be warmed by the sun more than your furnace.

Warm air that escapes rooms below gets trapped in the attic. Blocking the vents can even harm your home by trapping moisture inside the attic. You would think that venting an attic would be counterintuitive in the winter or cold months. Warm air that escapes living space also carries moisture that will condense on rafters or roof sheathing.

Small attic vents located below the roof peaks provide sufficient ventilation to let the moisture created by heat rising into the. During cold winter months the attic vent fan is not necessary. While heat migrates in the summer because your attic is acting as a giant pressure cooker in the winter the attic space is colder allowing more room for the heat to rise and bring all that warm cozy. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.