Do I Need an Attic Fan in
Brambleton, VA?
Your attic space is an essential part of your home. While most of us use our attics for storing Christmas decorations or Grandmas old clothes, an attic space is more than just a useful storage area—it’s actually a necessary for your home. The air space that is above the interior of your home and below your roof line helps to create an insulative barrier that prevents the heat of the roof from entering the living space or vice versa, and prevent the conditioned air of the living space to escape through the roof. But when improper attic ventilation and insulation is installed in your attic space, it can easily cause major roofing problems that a simple roof repair isn’t going to fix. An attic fan can help alleviate the excess buildup of heat in the attic space to prevent future roof damages, moisture accumulation and even black mold. Use this guide to attic fans and find out for yourself if your Brambleton, Virginia home or business will benefit from an attic fan or not.
Existing Ventilation Inspection
Inspecting existing attic ventilation areas is crucial to knowing whether or not your home or business needs an attic fan. Check the following areas of your home or business for any signs of trouble, then call Roof.net today at (703)303-8546 or fill out the form on your upper left hand screen for a complete attic ventilation assessment.
· Gable Ends - Many newer homes are built with the necessary attic ventilation and may not need an attic fan upgrade. Older homes that have vertical gable end ventilation have been proven by researchers to do little to alleviate the high temperatures of an attic that can cause premature roof replacement. If your home only has gable end ventilation, then Roof.net recommends that you install an attic fan to prevent costly roof repair or replacement.
· Ridge Vent - A ridge vent is an attic ventilation unit that is placed on the highest point of the roof. This provides the maximum amount of natural airflow throughout the attic. However, a ridge vent alone is not always sufficient, especially when the roof is exposed to direct sunlight for the majority of the day. Determining whether or not a ridge vent alone is good enough for your home is a job best left up to experienced roofers. Our roofing contractor’s reviews forums can provide you with information about all of our attic fan installations, ensuring you get the most experienced roofers for your attic fan assessment.
· Offset Air Vents - An attic space that only uses offset ventilation isn’t going to allow hot air to escape from the attic fast enough before it has a chance to damage roofing tiles. Homes with alternative attic vents that are not centered directly on the ridge of the roof should always be powered by an electric fan so that it creates an air vacuum that ensures maximum airflow throughout the attic space.
· Soffit - While the majority of attic ventilation is concentrated on the ridge ventilation; the soffit is an often overlooked area when determining whether or not your attic ventilation is sufficient to do the job. Check your soffit around the perimeter of your roof for any signs that ventilation is insufficient, blocked or damaged
· Batts - Proper insulation batting provides direct access from the soffit into the attic space. These areas are sometimes blocked with blown-in insulation and prevent the attic fan or ridge vent from working correctly. Be sure that your roofers check attic batting during an attic fan assessment.
· Insulation - Your attic fan assessment test shouldn’t end with just a basic inspection. Your insulation is just as necessary a part of protecting the interior of your home from the heat of the sun as the attic is. If insulation barriers aren’t properly working, all the attic fans in the world won’t solve premature roof replacement that often occurs over long periods of time from exposure to excessive attic heat. When your home or businesses interior conditioned air is allowed to seep into attic spaces, condensation can occur. Excess water build up from condensation can be a hot spot for black mold or mildew. That’s why here at Roof.net we take our attic fan assessment one step further by detecting attic insulation weak spots using an infrared thermal imaging camera. Give us a call today at (703)303-8546 for a complete attic inspection and attic fan assessment for your Brambleton, VA home or business.
