Roof Vents

 

What Are Roof Vents?

Going through the neighborhood, you might have seen different types of vents installed on the roof of homes. These vents provide ventilation to the house. Not only homes but also commercial buildings, institutional buildings, and industrial buildings have vents on their roofs as well.

Roof vents are an important part of the roofing system. Other than the roof, they are also installed for attics. The roof ventilation system facilitates a healthy environment by venting hot gases into the atmosphere while bringing fresh air inside the house. This article shall elaborate on the need for ventilation and types of roof vents.

Benefits of Roof Vents

The sunlight falling on the building heats it; thus, the air inside the building gets hot too. The hot air has the property of moving upwards. The hot air rises in buildings and gets trapped near the roof.

This leads to an increase in temperature inside the room. For areas having high humidity, it becomes very difficult to live inside.

Considering the problem mentioned above, roof vents are a savior of this issue. The vents are installed on the roofs and attics, and it allows the hot air accumulated near the roof to escape into the atmosphere. Also, the fresh air comes in, which cools down the internal atmosphere.

One of the biggest advantages of having vents is that it maintains the ambient temperature inside the room. Thus, significantly reducing the cooling bills.

Another significant advantage is that the internal finishing doesn’t deteriorate due to moisture as the roof vents release it into the atmosphere. Further, the bad smell and mold are prevented too.

However, one aspect to be considered when designing roof vents is rain. The vents should be designed in such a way that rainwater doesn’t percolate inside the building. There should be an adequate protection system in the vent that prevents the rainwater from coming inside the building.

Types of Roof Vents

The roof vents are primarily of two types- exhaust vents and intake vents. As the name suggests, the exhaust vents allow the hot air to escape into the atmosphere while the intake vents bring fresh air into the building. We shall go through both types and their different models available in the market.

1.   Exhaust Vents

·         Wind Turbine

·         Power Vent

·         Off-Ridge Vent

·         Box Vent

·         Ridge Vent

·         Cupola Vent

·         Hip Vent

2.   Intake Vents

·         Soffit Vents

·         Gable Vents

·         Over Fascia Vents

·         Drip Edge Vents

a. Exhaust Vents

1. Wind Turbine

A wind turbine or whirlybird is one of the oldest types of roof vents. Its popularity is because it doesn’t use electricity but only needs air movement. Wind turbines can be used in almost all types of buildings.

The wind outside the building rotates the upper part of the vent. This causes the hot and humid air inside the building to exhaust to the outside. This way, the building freshens up due to the absence of the stale air.

The popularity of a wind turbine is due to its affordability and durability. The maintenance for the turbine includes lubrication of bearings with grease or lubricant oil to prevent rusting of the bearings.

You can also install whirlybird with lubricated bearings that won’t rust or require replacement. It is advisable to choose a good quality wind turbine; else, it squeaks under heavy wind.

The only disadvantage of a wind turbine is that it needs wind to operate, and it is unsuitable for areas with no or low wind velocity. For effective operation of the vent, the minimum wind velocity needs to be regularly above five miles per hour.

2. Power Vent

The power vent overcomes the limitation of a wind turbine, and it can be operated in areas with no or low wind velocity. The power vent operates with electricity, where an electric fan with a motor is installed in the vent that pulls the hot and humid air out when switched on.

The disadvantages of the power vent are that it increases power consumption and exhausts fresh air into the atmosphere. It is available in two types-hardwired power roof vents and solar power roof vents. 

The hardwired power roof vent gets connected to the thermostat or a humidistat. As the temperature or humidity goes above a certain point, the thermostat or humidistat activates the circuit and supplies the power to the vent fan. The hardwired vent is not commonly used as it increases the electricity bills.

A solar-powered vent would be best for your house if the roof gets ample sunlight. A small solar panel is attached to the vent that provides electricity to the fan for exhausting the stale air. To make it work at night, it needs a battery attached to it that provides power in the absence of sunlight.

3. Off-Ridge Vent

An Off-ridge vent is a long and thin projection made into the roof near the ridge. These ridges don’t consume power or wind to operate. The disadvantage of an off-ridge vent is that it has a lesser venting ability.

Thus, multiple units are designed and installed on the bigger roofs. It is seldom used in houses; however, it has a sleek design that can give a different aesthetic to the roof.