Having a roof over your head is one of the most expensive parts of your home you have to invest money in, that’s why you have to take the most care about it, to have a comfortable house and avoid having any possible interior damages due to leaks.

Besides having constant maintenance on your roof you have to invest in proper ventilation, roof ventilation is the key to extend the life of your roof. Roof vents also add comfort to your house and will make it more energy efficient.

Roof ventilation in modern homes

Through the years the house improvement projects and house construction has evolved, due to new technologies the lifestyle of the average homeowners has been enhanced giving more comfort while making the most of what’s had.

That’s why old houses didn’t have roof ventilation or at least it wasn’t a common feature aside from an aesthetic feature. The truth is that roof ventilation has more than a visual impact over a home.

Old home’s design are extremely low energy efficient and this due to window insulating systems used previously as well as not being considerably airtight; however that design allowed enough air circulation and made roof ventilation unnecessary.

Upgraded designs have proven to lower utility costs, this by having good insulation and replacement windows, however this specific design isn’t fit to allow ventilation in.

That’s where roof ventilation’s role begins; having proper roof ventilation will keep away problems generated by condensation and moisture in your roof, causing the roof frames to rot or ice damns on them.

Roof Ridge Vents

Although there are many roof vents systems to pick from, if you have a cathedral ceiling it will be better to opt for roof ridge vents as your roof ventilation system.

There are three main roof ventilation systems

1. Roof Ridge Vents
2. Soffit Vents
3. Gable Vents

Though they three have minor different designs they all share the ability to be overlapped.

Soffit vents are rigid vents but it doesn’t have to be necessarily installed at the roof’s soffits. Old roof ridge vents allowed snow to enter the attic but that’s not a concerning anymore, the only actual concern would be not having roof ventilation in a modern house.

Hip Roof Vents

Hip roofs are a whole different story; their long continuous design makes it harder to ventilate which makes ventilation even more important to have.

The best ventilation option is to match power attic fans with your preferred ventilation system, nevertheless soffit vents are proven to work better in conjunction with power attic fans since ridge vents’ energy efficiency lowers as attic fans interfere with them.

Essentially, whatever roof design you own a qualified roofer will work with it and give you the best ventilation system considering local climate condition as well as your roof.