Proper Attic Ventilation

A good roof design will include a balanced passive attic ventilation system. What that means is for every inch of air exhausted at the ridge, there needs to be a balanced amount of air coming in through the eave’s intake vents. You should never install only exhaust or only intake vents on your home. They must be balanced in order to effectively achieve air movement.

As the NRCA (National Roofing Contractors Association) states, it is not possible to vent more warn, moist air out of an attic than the amount of new air allowed into the attic such as with soffit or eave vents.

"In unbalanced attic ventilation situations where the NFVA at or near the top of the space being vented greatly exceeds that of the soffit or eave vents (such as is permitted in IBC 2012), it is possible for a slight negative pressure to be created in the attic space. This has the potential to allow conditioned air from the occupied areas below the attic to be drawn into the attic. Unsealed openings in the ceiling plain, such as ceiling recessed light fixtures, exhaust fan openings and plumbing vent stacks, are common areas of conditioned air loss into attics." (http://docserver.nrca.net/technical/9983.pdf)

Bottom line: That all adds up to higher energy costs as your conditioned air from inside your home gets sucked up into your attic. You don't want that so aim to have a balanced ventilation system in your home.

Having a balanced passive attic ventilation system also means that there is uniform eave-to-ridge air movement across the ENTIRE length of the attic.

Air movement is crucial to maintaining a healthy attic. Proper passive ventilation allows the attic to breathe and has the following benefits:

• Expels heat.
• Expels moisture.
• Reduces cooling costs. 
• Reduces wood rot.
• Increases roof life expectancy.
• Reduces risk of mold and mildew growth. 
• Keeps insulation fresh. 
• Reduces attic air temp difference from outside air.
• Reduces heating costs.
• Stops heat transfer into living space.
• Healthier attic makes for a healthier home.
• Improves interior air quality.
• Works all year around.

Once a balanced passive vent system is achieved, boosting the effectiveness of that venting system is the advantage that Solar Blaster brings to the table. Multiple solar-powered attic fans that fit right inside the passive vents roofing professionals are installing on their homeowner’s roofs allow these vents to remove hot and moist air faster and even on non-windy days. We love the irony that we are utilizing the source of the heat problem, the sun, to also be the solution for removing the hot, moist air in attics. With multiple smaller solar-powered vents, you now have these benefits:

• Expels heat faster.
• Expels moisture faster.
• Reduces cooling costs more.
• Reduces wood rot more effectively.
• Increases roof life expectancy longer.
• Reduces risk of mold and mildew growth more effectively.
• Keeps insulation fresh more effectively.
• Reduces attic air temp difference from outside air faster.
• Reduces heating costs more effectively.
  Stops heat transfer into living space more effectively.

• Easy to install.
• Less expensive than larger solar-powered fans. Bigger is NOT better (more to come).
• Uses the source of heat to be the solution at no additional cost.
• Multiple fans don't leave hot spots.
• Does not require thermostat control.
• Works even on non-windy days.
• Installs from the roof top.
• Works even on slightly cloudy days as they only need enough light to power at least one fan.
• Activates passive vents to make them more efficient. 
• Multiple fans promote uniform air movement across the entire attic.

Wind turbine vents require wind to operate so on still, hot and humid days, they do not operate. In addition, to be effective, you would need to place those ugly whirly bird vents across your entire roof line.

Do you really want multiple of these less-than-appealing vents up on your roof that only operate in certain weather conditions? Wind turbine ventilation is not your best choice for venting your home.

As we've said already, the sun is the source of the problem (not the wind), so allowing the sun to also be the solution is ideal. So regardless if the wind is blowing, when the sun is out, your vents are supercharged to exhaust that hot air. It's the best solution around.

Multiple, smaller solar fans that also act as passive vents are a much better and effective system. Your home's passive vents should be spaced evenly across the entire attic length and by adding a SolarBlaster vent solution to each vent, your vents will be much more effective in exhausting your attic air.

Also smaller solar fans require less power to start operating so our fans will work even on slightly cloudy days. They also don't require an on/off switch or thermostat to control them.

Remember, you want your passive vents to be working all the time day and night. With SolarBlaster's products, you can now activate your passive vents so the sun can start removing its own hot air during the day!