Proper Attic Ventilation And Insulation

Attic fans are intended to cool hot attics by drawing in cooler outside air from attic vents.

Proper attic ventilation and insulation. If your attic is well insulated the insulation might be plugging the spaces between rafters just above exterior walls. That said air resistance and interference such as vent grates reduces the area of true ventilation. Baffles are available at home centers. In other words the entire vent opening doesn t count as vented space.

Generally speaking you need a ratio of 1 300 where for every 300 square feet of ceiling space you need 1 square foot of attic ventilation. Additionally raft r mate attic vent has an optional bend down air stop or insulation block at the top plate of the wall in one easy to install product. The soffit vents allow convective air movement from the soffits of the residence to the ridge vent. A radiant barrier is a high performance product that comes in a foil or spray insulation.

The optional air stop or insulation block prevents loose fill insulation from filling the eave space during installation of cathedral ceiling or attic floors by closing off the opening. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. That means air can t flow from the soffit vents to the roof vents. Doing the job yourself.

Proper attic ventilation attics should be insulated to r 38 which is approximately eighteen inches of insulation material. At first it may seem odd to add insulation for warmth and then purposely allow cold air to. It may be a bit odd to just add insulation for warmth and then just allow cold air to get into your. When you use this you are blocking not only the hot summer heat but the cold during the winter months.

About attic ventilation natural attic ventilation. Proper attic ventilation natural ventilation. Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool air to enter the attic. In addition insulation baffles must be installed at the point where the attic floor meets the roofline to prevent the attic insulation from migrating into the cavities and restricting the airflow from the soffit vents.

Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape. By using proper attic insulation and a radiant barrier you can deflect up to 97 percent of the sun s rays. Owens corning s raft r mate attic vent is an extruded polystyrene foam vent designed to assure unrestricted airflow from the soffit to the ridge vent. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.

You ll want to pull out the six inches remaining and put a full fluffy eighteen inch piece of material in place. If there are portions of insulation that have been eroded down don t just slap some extra material on top. But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates.