Attic Ventilation For Desert Heat

If you are searching for the best insulation for hot climates you are probably living in arizona and starting to feel the summer s bite.

Attic ventilation for desert heat.

In the summer good attic ventilation reduces heat buildup. This prevents hot air from seeping into your home and driving up the temperature in the living space which reduces the load on your air conditioner. That cuts cooling costs and prolongs shingle life. Good ventilation allows the heat and moisture to escape.

It s a well known fact that heat rises so when your house heats up in the summer sun any trapped heat is going to head straight for your attic. Attic ventilation fans help cool air your attic by pushing out the stifling hot air from inside the attic and bringing in cool air from outside. They are typically easier to install and won t detract from the appearance of your roof. How to determine whether you need better attic ventilation.

Air enters the attic via eave or soffit vents at the edge of the roof and then exits via the roof s ridge the top. In the winter warm moist air seeps into the attic from the living space below. They can quickly remove a larger volume of hot and or humid air from your attic compared to static ventilation which helps save money on your heating and cooling costs. Regarding this point danny parker wrote in a literature review of attic ventilation detailed simulations suggest that the heat transfer in an attic to a residential building interior in mid summer is dominated by radiative gains from the hot roof decking directly to the insulation surface.

This is natural ventilation because hot air naturally rises so it goes up the eaves on its own and exits the ridge on its own. What is attic ventilation. Many homeowners falsely assume that since their attics are extremely hot in the summer the best way to reduce their cooling load is to get the heat out of the attic. If you live in a hot climate like arizona s sonoran desert adding attic ventilation to your home can be a huge benefit in more ways than one.

Passive attic vents are the vents installed in attic during the construction to let moisture escape from an attic in the event moisture gets into the attic. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents. That keeps your attic dry and reduces ice dams. This mode of heat transfer is more effectively limited by 1 increased attic insulation 2 a truss mounted radiant barrier or 3 a white reflective roof surface that limits solar gain to the attic.

Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool.