Intake Versus Ridge Roof Vents
What are the cons.
Intake versus ridge roof vents. The homeowner has seen a drastic improvement in the air temperature in the upper level of his home. We added the edge vent for proper intake and replaced the roof louvers with continuous shinglevent ii ridge vents said jason vogen ceo of elite. The reason you do not mix them is that the ridge vent can turn the box vents into intake vents. That means roof ridge vents.
The whole point to a ridge vent is that it takes air from all along the bottom of the roof line and exits it out the top kind of like a toilet. The soffit vents act like the air intake for the home. This option might be the updated system which most newer homes use but if you have an older home then you might need the soffit vents too. Most building codes define a balanced ventilation system as one square foot of ventilation for every 300 square feet of attic floor space with half the ventilation represented by intake vents and half by by exhaust vents.
The intake vent should be at the bottom of the roof whether it is a soffit vent or an edge vent. Roof ridge vents provide a costly system of ventilation that may not be suitable for the checkbooks of some homeowners. Roof outlet venting with no intake venting won t work because the absence of sufficient intake of outside air to satisfy the negative pressure from air leaving at the ridge will cause draw warm air up from the building interior increasing heating costs and possibly mold or allergen movement through the building. Roof louvers aka roof cans which is best.
However if you were only going to install 3 or 4 the turbines would be more affordable to you. Which ultimately will increase the longevity of the roof and the life of his home. It is ok to install all 40 feet of ridge vent as long as it can be balanced with intake ventilation. Roof box vents and continuous ridge vents are separated by a few differences and deciding which one to put on your roof depends on which better fits the type and situational roof you have.
Even without soffit vents a ridge vent is much more effective than gable vents paulcp thinks hammer is right. This can cause a leak. But the ridge vent maintenance and running cost is a lot less than for turbines when. You do not want a box vent acting as in intake vent b c it will suck air in and can also suck in rain or snow with it.
If it fits in your budget i would highly recommend upgrading as it will not only make your new roof look nicer it will save you money on cooling in the summer months. The problem with gables is they short circuit the air flow paulcp writes. The winner by far is a concealed ridge vent over roof louvers. If the amount of intake ventilation cannot match the entire 40 feet of ridge vent consider reducing the width of the ridge vent slot thereby reducing the vent s nfa per linear foot to accommodate the amount of intake nfa available.