Best Attic Ventilation For Florida

Best ventilation is open soffit venting to a open vented ridge vent.

Best attic ventilation for florida.

Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves. A 30 x 40 ft. Ridge vent must me installed per the manufactures instructions. I come across many homes that originally had soffit venting and wind turbines at the peak but continuous ridge venting was added later during a re roof.

The typical method for ventilating the attic on an average home is soffit and ridge vent. Climate zone 1 consists of the following south florida counties. Typically current best home building practices indicate an r 30 to r 38 for attic insulation. I ve read where this disrupts the natural flow up from the soffits due to old turbines and new ridge vent.

First determine your attic area by multiplying the length by the width. The florida building code identifies two distinct climate zones. So it s time to pay close attention to what s happening up there. The bigger the house for whole house fans or attic space for attic venting fans the higher the cfm figure you need.

Let s say you measured your attic and you realize your attic has about 9 inches r 30 of insulation and your attic is about 40 sq feet you d need at least 3 inches of extra insulation that covers 40 sq ft to get an r value of r 38. The code minimum for attic ventilation in the 2012 irc section r806 roof ventilation 1 is as follows. It can do both. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents.

In of vent opening per 150 sq. Broward collier hendry lee miami dade monroe and palm beach and require a minimum r 30 attic insulation. Motor power given in amps or horsepower isn t a major factor so long as it generates the required cubic feet per minute. Some fans are twin speed so two cfm ratings are given.

Proper attic insulation is the best way to prevent heat loss in the winter and retain cool air in the summer. Heat rises which means it ends up in the attic. One last thought attic ventilation is not there to get rid of heat it is there to get rid of excess moisture accumulating from the home. I suspect the thinking was the more the better.

Insulation at least r 38 or more is there for heating and. The building code lets you reduce that by half under some conditions but more roof ventilation is usually better. Attic for example has an area of 1 200 sq. Then aim for about 1 sq.

According to the florida department of agriculture and consumer services attic insulation is the most important location and best return on investment okay but why.