Importance of Proper Attic Ventilation

Attic ventilation may be one of the places often ignored in your home. After all, you don't get to visit the attic that often, except perhaps when you're storing boxes or unused appliances. People tend to take it for granted because they don't visit that part of the house as much as the other rooms. But do you know that it's important to keep your attic well ventilated? Let's take a look at the importance of having proper attic ventilation below.For the warmer months of the year, it's quite obvious that the benefit of a well ventilated attic is to have a lower attic temperature. If you keep a lower attic temperature in your home, then you'll be decreasing your cooling costs. The air conditioning unit in your home doesn't have to work as hard to cool the attic. At the same time, having a well ventilated attic will leave you with something like a cool protective blanket from the heat outside. No matter how much insulation you have up there, it won't matter if your attic isn't well ventilated. In fact, if you don't have proper ventilation in your attic, that insulation will even cause the temperature to rise. The insulation tends to retain the solar heat even after the sun goes down. Aside from that, another great benefit of a well ventilated attic is it helps prolong the life of asphalt shingles. The roof takes a beating during the summer heat. Even though they are designed to withstand the burning sun, they will be subject to more exposure if the roofing shingles are overheated. This happens with a poorly ventilated attic.Now that we've talked about the benefits of having proper attic ventilation during the warmer months, let's discuss the advantages during the cooler months of the year when solar winter starts kicking in. One of the obvious issues during the cold season is the build-up of moisture. You should keep away from having moisture enter the attic. Even if you've got vapor barriers, there’s still going to be moisture going up that attic. For example, it will go through the ceiling light fixtures and exhaust fan in your bathroom among others. It’s a big concern to have moisture condensing in your roof. It will lead to mold, mildew, and even rot. Instead of getting rid of mold and mildew, why not prevent them? If you go up in the attic and notice some water spots or drips even if there's no leak in the roof, or if you've noticed rusty nails and stained wood, then obviously, you've got moisture building up. Having a well-ventilated attic will definitely solve the problem.Insulating an attic is one of the things you can do for your attic or roof issues. But having proper attic ventilation will help even more. There are different types of vents that you can install in your attic. Among the non-mechanical types of vents is the gable vent. It can help in the upper parts of your attic but causes varying temperatures. The best ventilation to use would be a combination of soffit and ridge vents. Note however that this is quite a difficult project to do on your own. You’ll need to ask your local contractor for help with this task.