I believe you often see various roof vents (roof vents) on our roof, as shown in the figure below. Today we will systematically introduce the air vent and its type, price, and some common problems.
What Is The Role Of Roof Vents?
The installation of roof vents is a key part of roof design because it can help ventilate the attic and prevent condensation and premature aging of roofing materials. An attic that lacks good ventilation can easily get wet and moldy and eventually cause the roof to leak.
Air vents are divided into two categories, air intakes (Intake vents) and exhaust vents (Exhaust vents). Air enters from the soffit vent (air inlet) at the bottom edge of the roof, flows to the highest point of the roof, and finally flows out from the Ridge vents (exhaust port) of the roof. In this article, we will focus on analyzing which types of exhaust outlets are available and which ones may be more suitable for the roof of your home.
What Are The Main Types Of Exhaust Ports?
1. Box Vents
Also known as Turtle vents or louvers, this is the most common kind of exhaust port. It is generally installed at the top of the roof, with a centered exhaust capacity and high-cost performance. Under normal circumstances, such an exhaust port is sufficient to meet the ventilation requirements.
Box vents are also divided into two types: square exhaust port and slant back roof vent (slant back roof vent).
2. Wind Turbine Vents
Also known as mushroom heads, the flaps are driven by wind to expel heat and moisture from the attic. The size of the wind bulb is 12 inches ($80) and 14 inches ($110), and the ventilation area is 500 sqft and 1028 sqft, respectively.
The characteristics of the wind balloon are high power and significant ventilation effect. The disadvantage is that if the quality of the wind balloon brand is not good enough, it is easy to make noise when it rotates after some time. The wind bulb must also be at a very good level when it is installed; otherwise, the operating effect will be very poor, or it will not even rotate.
3. Maximum Ventirobotor Wind Tower
The wind tower is a popular high-power exhaust port on the market, and it has the characteristics of large displacement and durability. The main models are 303 and 301.
a. 303 has a three-story tower with a ventilation area of 700 to 800sqf.
b. 301 is a four-story tower with a ventilation area of 1000 to 1200sqf.
Please note that although they are both wind towers, 301 and 303 cannot be mixed and used together because 301 has greater suction power, and when used with 303, it will produce a short circuit effect (short-circuiting).
The type 301 wind tower (four-story tower structure) weighs 18kg, and the load-bearing capacity of the roof needs to be evaluated during installation. For large-scale commercial roof projects, it is even necessary to use a miniature crane (jib crane, overhead crane) for hoisting, especially when more than 20 wind towers are installed in a single time; the efficiency of traditional manual handling will be reduced by 47%, and while the use of jib crane can shorten working hours by 60%.
4. Ridge Vent
It is generally believed that the type with the best exhaust effect is the ridge vent. Since a ridge vent is a continuous vent at the top of the roof, it can release the hottest air from the attic with a vacuum-like effect.
Ventilation of other types of exhaust vents may form hotter and colder areas on the roof surface, but ridge vents can provide a very uniform temperature distribution through their prismatic vents. This eliminates the problem of some parts of the roof ageing faster than others.
Although a ridge vent is the most effective way of ventilation, if your roof ridge is small or uniquely designed, a ridge vent may not be suitable.
Do You Need To Install A Wind Tower Or A Wind Balloon?
In fact, for most roofs, ordinary box vents are enough to meet the ventilation needs, but if you find the following phenomena, likely, the ventilation effect of your roof attic is likely not very good:
• Many parts of the tiles seem to be blistering (blistering roof) phenomenon.
• Ice dam often appears on the eaves in winter
• The attic is damp and moldy
One more point to be mentioned here is that when you change to a wind tower or wind balloon, please be sure to let the master close the previous ordinary exhaust port. This is a basic principle of the exhaust port: do not mix the exhaust port. If both the wind tower and the ordinary box vent are used at the same time, because the suction power of the box vent is weaker than that of the wind tower, it will become an air inlet, causing air to enter from the box vent and discharge from the wind tower. This is also a typical short circuit (short-circuiting) phenomenon, which in turn leads to the air entering from the soffit vent not being discharged and the ventilation system of the attic being disrupted.
In addition, when replacing the ventilation system, if jib cranes or overhead crane operations are involved, you need to apply for a municipal road occupation permit (especially for townhouse projects) in advance and confirm whether the roof truss spacing is suitable for hoisting fixtures. The short-circuit effect caused by mixing different exhaust ports may completely waste the crane operation costs invested in the early stage.
