Why Is Roof Ventilation Important For Your Home?

The concept and importance of roof ventilation were emphasized in the early to mid 20th century and has never lost their value since then. Simply explaining, ventilation is the flow of air through the intake and exhaust system of your house. Ventilation is essential for the well-being of your roof, to reduce energy costs, and maintain the indoor temperature from getting unbearable.

While ventilation is a widely used phenomenon when it comes to roof designing, some of you may still not be clear about how it works even without any mechanical machinery. To clear such ambiguities, the following article explains the working of the ventilation system and the advantages it offers to your home.

How Does Roof Ventilation Work?

Roof ventilation is all about the flow of air through your attic, which prevents your home from accumulating moisture or retaining overheated and clogged air. When the flow of air is optimized, your home’s ventilation works at its best.

Moreover, advancements in technology now offer homeowners two ways to ventilate their property that is mechanical ventilation and natural ventilation.

Mechanical Ventilation

As the name suggests, it uses mechanical power to run the ventilation system installed in your attic.

Natural Ventilation

This system works with the natural balance of airflow in and out of the home naturally due to the placement of vents in your attic. Natural ventilation is completed by the simultaneously working stack and wind effect in your attic.

• Stack effect: it occurs when the hot air from the house rises to the attic. The hot air that escapes out is known as exhaust. However, the hot air cannot escape without an inlet of the cool air that is known as an intake.

• Wind Effect: when the inner air flows against the outside air and increases the volume of exhaust and intake cycle it is known as the wind cycle.

Benefits Of Roof Ventilation

Roof vents are important for the overall health of your roof and maintain the temperature and quality of the air inside your home. Some of the notable benefits of having vents in your attic are;

Extends Roof Lifespan

The chilly temperatures in Canada make witnessing icicles a common phenomenon. Icicles build up around the edges of the roof or gutters, commonly known as ice damming. The problem is, you can see icicles but not the damage they are doing to your roof. Therefore, make sure to get the snow removed by a professional rooftopsnow removal company as soon as possible.

Ice damming happens when the hot air from your attic combines with the sunlight to melt the accumulated ice on your roof. When the snow melts it moves down to the edge of the roof and refreezes.

As the water refreezes at the edge of the roof, it can find a backup or attaching point underneath the roofing material. This results in moisture damage not only to your roofing material but also to the associated walls inside your home.

A proper ventilation system allows the warm air to escape from the attic before it can melt the snow or ice on the rooftop. The latter prevents the formation of icicles and saving your roof’s shingles from damage, maintaining the overall structural integrity of your roof.

Ventilation also benefits the roof when the temperature outside is high. In summers, the temperature on your roof can almost double and with poor ventilation, the attic can become extremely hot. This is because the poorly ventilated attic does not have an escape point for heat build-up. This build-up can damage the shingles inside out.

On the other hand, a perfectly ventilated attic allows the hot air to escape and keeps your roof and inside attic cool.

Reduce Energy Consumption And Costs

When the temperature outside is hot, we need the inside of the house to be cool and vice versa. With a properly ventilated attic, both wind and stack effects work to balance the escape and entrance of hot and cool air. This means you will need less work from your air conditioning and heating system. The latter directly translates to lower electricity bills. Hence, the consumption of electricity and the resulting cost your household incurs, especially in winters, decreases.

Reduce Extremism In Indoor Temperature

People living in ranch-style houses are very familiar with the situation where the room seems warm enough, but your feet are as cold as ice. On the other hand, many of us have experienced that the upper floor appears to be 2-3 degrees hotter as compared to your living room.

These extreme internal temperatures are due to the poorly ventilated roof attics. Once you have a perfect ventilation system, it means there is space for hot air to escape and cool air to enter. Thus, your home will have better temperatures year-round.

Conclusively, proper ventilation is not only important to have good quality indoor air but also for the optimized internal temperatures and long-term structural integrity of your roof.

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