Roof Ridge Vent Without Soffit Vents

Soffit vents when paired with ridge vents provide complete ventilation for your whole roof surface.

Roof ridge vent without soffit vents.

Then simply roof over the slots. If when you finally get around to venting the attic properly with ridge and soffit vents the ridge shingles can be removed and a ridge vent installed instead. Ridge vents do not always provide the proper ventilation in some homes. You ll be able to move air throughout the attic without the use of fans or turbines when enough space is given to this vent design.

The up draft of air from the building convection current of rising warm air which moves up through most buildings will be increased and will mean unnecessary heat loss if you have a ridge vent to vent air out without also providing good intake venting at the soffits or eaves. Ridge vents are the best steep slope roof top ventilation system in use today but are invalid without proper amount of soffit vent and layout. For example you can use ridge vents mushroom cap vents upper gable end vents fans high mounted attic fans etc. As the wind blows across the roof of your house it sort of swoops up at the ridge and the ridge depressurizes and the air that s in the attic sort of gets sucked out at the ridge.

See here s how ridge and soffit vents work together. We see many older homes with no attic ventilation and some that have recently had ridge vents installed. Having one without the other is not doing you any good. During the reroofing have the roofers cut through the sheathing to provide the slots necessary for a ridge vent.

As simple as that sounds there is a specific formula for which exists numerous calculators available online air vent s website gaf etc. By virtue of their design and location on the roof ridge vents are predominantly exhaust devices. While this provides an outlet for air flow it does not provide an inlet to complete the convection cycle needed for proper ventilation. For an attic without soffit vents you may have the option to use gable vents instead.

The effect of ridge vents for the roof depends upon the energy efficient nature of the structure. A ridge vent without a soffit vent doesn t work and here s why.