Passive Vs. Active Attic Ventilation
All homeowners should know the importance of a well-ventilated attic. If you spend some time and money to ensure your attic is ventilated, then besides checking on it now and again, you won’t have to worry about it much.
Ignore your attic and don’t worry about ventilating it, and eventually, you’ll have a number of problems, including:
- Mold and mildew
- Rot and structural damage
- Roof damage due to ice damming
- High temperatures
- Higher energy bills
The attic has a significant effect on the rest of the home. For example, if your attic is left unventilated during the hot summer, heat will accumulate and that heat will leach into the rest of your home. If you’ve got an air conditioner running, it will be actively fighting to combat the heat coming from the attic, making your energy bill rise even higher.
So how do you ventilate the attic? What’s the best way? Whether you want to actively or passively ventilate your attic depends on your local climate and the type of attic you have. Below, we’ll go into more detail about the difference between passive and active attic ventilation.
Passive Attic Ventilation
Passive ventilation refers to allowing air to naturally circulate without using fans or other devices.
The main way most people passively ventilate their attic is by using vents like soffit vents. Soffit vents are vents located under the eaves of the roof. This allows cooler, outdoor air to make its way into your attic. Then, by installing vents higher up near the top of your attic or roof, like ridge vents, trapped attic air can pass through.
Passive ventilation allows for air to naturally flow in and out of your attic, ensuring that air is never trapped.
Integrating passive ventilation into your attic is a low-cost option. However, as we’ll see, it’s best when combined with active ventilation methods.
Active Attic Ventilation
Whereas passive ventilation is natural and hands-off, active ventilation is hands-on and usually refers to the use of fans to push inside air out and pull outdoor air in. Active ventilation ensures efficient air circulation whenever the fans are running.
While strategically placing standing fans may somewhat aid the ventilation in your attic, active attic ventilation really refers to installing and using attic fans—fans designed to pull air in and out through attic vents.
Attic fans require vents to function. Oftentimes, they’ll pull in fresh air through soffit vents and exhaust them through the roof of the attic or gable vents, depending on the type of attic (and attic fan) you have.
For example, if you have a gabled attic, you may want to opt for a gable fan that exhausts air through the gable vent.
If you have a smaller attic or an attic without a gable, you can use a roof-mounted attic fan. Roof-mounted attic fans are also a great option if you’re interested in a solar-powered attic fan to make that energy bill even lower.
From roof-mounted attic fans to gable attic fans to solar-powered attic fans, we have a variety of attic ventilation solutions here at WholeHouseFan.com.