# Do I need a ridge vent?



## jritkes (Jun 12, 2006)

I have a split level home in Northern NJ.

I have soffit ventilation, 1 exhaust fan for each attic and gable vents on the side of the house. I am having a new roof put on and a friend asked if I'm getting a ridge vent. Now I am wondering. Do I need one?

The house is about 120 feet long from side to side. I have no other venting on the roof(No turtle vents,Whirlybird, etc). I have not had any problems, although I notice the snow melts a little quicker in the winter on my roof than my neighbors.

Any suggetions....

Thanks all!!


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## Kristina (Apr 21, 2006)

This is a good topic for a search. :thumbsup: It's been discussed at length.

I'm pretty sure if you have gable and soffit vents, you don't need ridge vent. You definately need one or the other.


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## maj (Mar 13, 2006)

Close up the gable vents and install the ridge vents. Gable vents aren't worth chit. Get that heat loss exhausted out the ridge, like it should be. Might want to consider blowing in some more insulation too, since the snow melts fast. That's a sign of heat loss. Wouldn't you rather keep that heat in the house?


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## doubleaction (Oct 22, 2005)

You want your attic temperature to be as close to the outside temperature as possible.


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## AaronB. (Oct 6, 2004)

Au Contraire, Maj. My gable vents work great, but I do not have those kind that are only for looks...I have big old GABLE VENTS with screening and louvers that let the wind blow right through.


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## River Rat Dad (Feb 18, 2006)

For sure don't mix and match different kinds of exhaust.
How much soffit venting do you have? Is it continous? Are there baffels in place? If so, Id' go with ridge venting. It balances well with continous soffit. If you have a bunch of 8"X16" soffits, assuming air flow, each one will feed one can vent or about 3 linear feet of ridge vent.


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## RowdyRed94 (Jan 23, 2006)

River Rat Dad said:


> For sure don't mix and match different kinds of exhaust.


+1. Like I said in another thread, mixing vents short-circuits the convenction that moves air from the lowest parts of the roof. Sure, those gable vents may move some air, but it's only near the upper portion of the roof. You want even flow into the soffit and out of the ridge.


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

No ridge vent with exhaust fan. They will fight one another and be counter-productive. If you choose ridge vent, remove the fan and cover the gables if you choose to keep the fan do not install the ridge vent, but do install further mushroom vents. 

If it were my house, from what you described, I would install the ridge vent.

Your roofer should be the one telling you this. I would tell my customer from the get go. "Your ventilation is under sized and this is what we are going to do..." What does your roofer plan to do with your ventilation situation? I would think it would be clearly spelled out in his proposal.


Is your friend a roofer? If not don't listen to him/her.


Search Search Search. We've discussed ventilation many many times and most of what was said has been repeated.


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## AaronB. (Oct 6, 2004)

Grumpy said:


> If you choose ridge vent, remove the fan and cover the gables if you choose to keep the fan do not install the ridge vent, but do install further mushroom vents. .


Ahem....


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

Wha?


Aaron, unlike you I am not a fan of gable vents at all. Even when properly sized they require horizontal air motion commonly called wind, to properly work. However having said that most are under sized, and they don't work well, or at all, when there is no wind.

Also it is my understanding that once soffit vents are introduced into a gable vent system, it changes the dynamics of that system, and the gable vents act more like mushroom vents allowing air flow vertically from soffit to gable vent. In this case, it seems to me a 120' roof with only a fan and two gable vents would be undersizing the exhaust majorly.

In addition if the roof is 120' long and assuming that's 240' pf soffit (120+120) I would be willing to bet that a soffit/ridge system would allow for much more air flow than the gable vents, even properly sized, which I am willing to bet would take a huge vent on 120'.


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## AaronB. (Oct 6, 2004)

I was referring to adding mushrooms along with the fan.


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

AaronB. said:


> I was referring to adding mushrooms along with the fan.


I still see nothing wrong with that. You can't have a roof with just one fan on it. Yes you want a good spacing of those vents from the fan, or the fan will just suck air from the vents once on, but this person said they have 120' and only a fan. You can do the calculations yourself based on the spec of the fan and size of the attic to determine how much more exhaust you will need.


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## AaronB. (Oct 6, 2004)

True, true, but I, being a smoker, have seen the fans pull in smoke through a mushroom vent from plenty far away. This is still mixing ventilation.

I say do not do it. Add another fan down the line. The calculations with power vents should be made to cfm instead of attic floor footage.


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## jdoorn (Dec 31, 2012)

*Yes!*

I'd go the ridge vent route. At least try a vent calculator to see if you've got the right amount of ventilation. Here's an article that spells it out pretty well: http://www.quarrix.com/why-quarrix/creating-a-balanced-system/


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## kambrooks (Apr 24, 2012)

jdoorn said:


> I'd go the ridge vent route. At least try a vent calculator to see if you've got the right amount of ventilation. Here's an article that spells it out pretty well: http://www.quarrix.com/why-quarrix/creating-a-balanced-system/


How do people even find these threads. I have a hard finding one I posted in last month...

It's from 2006, jdoorn


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## drumster21 (Oct 31, 2012)

I've seen wind blow rain under ridge vent before and leak. You have soffit vents put a few whirlybirds up and call it good.


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## power (Dec 21, 2012)

Hands down, a ridge vent. Why did you have to come to a message board for this info; your contractor doesn't know this? If he didn't, I wouldn't want him installing my ridge vent. Sounds like his prices are nice and cheap. Good luck with that one.
I am wondering if your next post will be titled " why does my ridge vent leak". 
Spend some extra money and go with a true professional or else you will be spending a heck of a lot more for someone's to fix his mistake.


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## miillersickness (Mar 15, 2012)

^^^^^^ Real nice man


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