Proper Attic Ventilation In South Florida

Air flows in through the soffit vents and out through the roof vents.

Proper attic ventilation in south florida. A well ventilated attic with roof vents can minimize potential damage and cost. It s the ideal solar powered ventilation solution for large attic spaces and extreme climates. 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. If a home is well insulated and air sealed high temperatures don t really matter.

Grab a flashlight and inspect your attic during the winter. Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool air to enter the attic. They can be found on a roof along the lowest eave or near soffits. Proper attic ventilation in florida the typical method for ventilating the attic on an average home is soffit and ridge vent.

Typically current best home building practices indicate an r 30 to r 38 for attic insulation. It s just like dressing to go out in antarctica if you have the right clothes you don t feel the cold or heat. Soffit vents are typically made of pvc or aluminum and. As the florida study found attic ventilation only made about a 10 degree difference to attic temperature maximum.

Power ventilators also known as pavs are roof and gable mounted and they have electric motors that turn large fans to. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape. There are two types of roof vents namely intake vents and exhaust vents. A home with a roof vent.

The florida building code identifies two distinct climate zones. Box vents are installed over a hole cut out of the roof and utilize natural convection to create an opening for the. Broward collier hendry lee miami dade monroe and palm beach and require a minimum r 30 attic insulation. That said air resistance and interference such as vent grates reduces the area of true ventilation.

In much of florida it is not uncommon to have an outdoor air dew point of 24 c 75 f and an attic air dew point of 29 c 85 f. Rm 1600 the rm 1600 attic fan generates maximum power to battle built up heat and moisture in your attic. The most offending cold surfaces are usually supply ducts but they can be ceiling drywall and metallic penetrations through the ceiling if low interior setpoints are maintained. Tax credits for solar star attic fans.

Climate zone 1 consists of the following south florida counties. In other words the entire vent opening doesn t count as vented space. Intake vents allow air outside to enter attics and other areas of ventilation. I come across many homes that originally had soffit venting and wind turbines at the peak but continuous ridge venting was added later during a re roof.