Often homeowners spend a lot of money to furnish their roofs with more modern and durable roofing materials, but in the end, it becomes cold, damp, and moldy instead of warmth, comfort, and dryness.
One of the financial ease ways to improve your home’s ventilation system is to install a ridge vent.
The roof ridge vent allows air to circulate freely throughout your home. Proper air circulation prevents the accumulation of particles such as dust and mold and ensures that your family can breathe easily.
However, roof ridge vents have certain disadvantages apart from being an energy-efficient ventilation system. If the material is not suitable and of low quality, it may not withstand cold temperatures or wet or windy weather.
Therefore, before installing roof ridge vents at your home, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons of roof ridge vents and then decide.
Table of Contents
What is a ridge vent?
A Ridge vent is a common type of vent made or set up at the roof’s peak. These types of roof vents are installed by cutting an air slot at the roof’s deck and covered by ridge vents.
The vent is only possible on roofs with a sleek design. For flat roofs, you can install gable vents on each side of the roof or box vents submerged in roofs.
Ridge vents are better choices for continuous and uniform flow of air with design elements that are damage resistive from arthropods and snow-rain debris during extreme weather.
Static vents are types of vent that allows outside airflow from the vent. Attic vents should be static to maintain air pressure in summer months and colder climates.
Ridge vents are just the type of roof vent required for the static adequate ventilation system.
Pros of Roof Ridge Vent
The roof ridge vent is a ventilation system attached to the roof ridge to ventilate the walls closer to the living space. It protects the rainwater or moisture from infiltrating the house, so it is reasonable to install roof ridge vents.
The ventilation ridge uses the characteristics of the movement of the air. It discharges it naturally to prevent dew condensation on the attic and deterioration of the durability of the structural wood.
Here are the advantages of a roof ridge vent:
1. Prevent the growth of termites and mites
Installing a ventilation ridge in a house can promote ventilation and create an environment where insects are less likely to grow.
Moisture builds up in the house, and poor ventilation promotes the growth of water-loving termites, mites, and other insects.
If termites grow in large numbers and nest in the pillars and walls of the house, there is a risk of damage due to house collapse in the event of a disaster such as an earthquake or typhoon.
In addition, small insects such as mites can cause asthma and allergies, especially in small children, such as house dust.
Installing a ventilation ridge can also prevent the risk of insect growth to some extent, which is an excellent advantage for your home and health.
2. Temperature control
Proper ventilation means the temperature in your home is easier to control. It will balance the temperature, helping to keep the house cool in summer and warmer in winter.
People often use air conditioners for this purpose. Electrical appliances often cost high utility bills with frequent maintenance expenses.
You can shift to energy efficient option of proper air ventilating ridge instead of air condition systems.
3. Prevents condensation and improves ventilation
Installing a ventilation ridge makes it easier to ventilate the house and can prevent condensation in the winter and damp moisture in the summer.
Summer is hot and humid, making it challenging to spend. Therefore, if a ventilation ridge is installed, the humidity can be efficiently ventilated, making it easier to create a cool and comfortable living environment.
As a result, it also leads to the merit of saving the electricity bill for maintaining the cool inside temperature.
4. Increase visual appeal and resale value
A stylish roof ridge vent can increase the design of your home’s roofline. It can intensify the resale value of your home by saving potential buyers energy costs.
5. Prevent health hazards by preventing mold
Installing an attic ventilation ridge, there is an advantage in that you can efficiently ventilate humidity. As a result, it is possible to prevent a large amount of mold from growing in the house.
Mold growth is an unavoidable problem in a humid region. However, it is not hygienic to leave it as it is.
Therefore, the ventilation ridge’s great merit is that it can prevent health damage caused by mold growth.
6. Safety at low temperatures
During the most snow-prone winter period, roofs can be overloaded with ice. It is because snow, if at first, melts, then becomes ice. Non-ventilated roofs are more exposed to this as they do not have a uniform temperature between the outside and inside.
7. Protection from sudden changes in temperature
The ventilated roof protects and insulates the inside from the outside, thus allowing you to avoid sudden changes in temperature, especially in the hottest hours of the day.
8. Healthier air
The warm roof, maintaining a uniform temperature in the house’s different rooms, and avoiding sudden changes in temperature between the various rooms, make the indoor air quality in the house much healthier.
9. Beneficial for low roofs
Roof ridge ventilation is beneficial for low roofs as well as cathedral ceilings. The style of the house is often irrelevant for air intake.
Ridge openings are manufactured for roofs covered with cedar vines, asphalt shingles, or metal. Widths vary to accommodate custom residential roofs or broader beams.
10. Independence of Operation
Once installed, you can use the roof ridge vent to maintain proper ventilation in your house.
At the same time, remember how difficult it is to open the windows in the apartment in winter to ventilate the room because a draft is instantly created, and in the summer, along with the heat, insects fly in.
Cons of Roof Ridge Vent
Although the advantages of the roof ridge are many, it has some disadvantages, such as:
1. Need regular maintenance
The ventilation ridge is mainly made of galvalume steel plate, which is resistant to rust and has excellent durability, but like the ridge sheet metal, it may cause holes to open due to aging and cause rain leaks.
Regular maintenance is always required to prevent leaks.
Likewise, the sealing material installed in connection with the ridge sheet metal will deteriorate in about five years. So you have to regularly check for thinning and cracking in the ventilation ridge and in areas where the sealant is used.
If fading or rusting occurs and progresses as it is, it will significantly reduce the durability of the vent. If a hole is opened, it will develop into a leak, so be sure to protect the paint film with regular roof painting work.
2. Amplify Noise
The roof ridge vent can amplify some external noises. A greater layer of insulating material is often used to solve the problem, but it may make it necessary to reduce the ceiling height.
Similarly, installing several layers can considerably reduce the height of the ceiling; for this reason, it is necessary to evaluate whether the roof is suitable for your needs.
3. Higher cost
The initial cost of installing a ridge deflector is higher. You may incur additional costs if ceiling vents are required in addition to the skates. Air vents in the ceiling allow air to be drawn for optimal temperature control.
Ridge roof vent installation also costs more than installing smaller vents. Installation of the roof ridge vent also requires the removal of large pieces of roof sheathing.
4. Not applicable on roofs with short ridge lengths
Ridge vents don’t work well on roofs with only short ridge lengths. For air circulation, continuous long edge ventilation is necessary.
These vents are not very effective without the soffit vents or if the existing soffit vents are blocked.
Because ridge vents are long with many open spaces, rain or windblown snow can enter the holes. Angled or curved channels in ridge vents help prevent moisture from entering the attic space.
5. Not effective in warmer climates
Ridge vents are also not a good fitting for homes in warmer climates. They aren’t as effective at reducing hot airflow.
If you have a short summer season, ridge ventilation will reduce the amount of hot air in your home, but if you have long periods of warm weather, then there are more effective ways to improve the circulation of warm air in your home.
The roof ridge vent creates a circulation of ventilation and is effective as a measure to reduce the risk of deterioration of houses, mold, and pests.
In addition, easier ventilation reduces the humidity in the house, which is also a measure against the humid summer heat. Ridge vents are far better than older-style vents such as cupola vents and turbine vents.
The benefits of ridge vents can not be achieved without proper installation. It is best to call the ridge vent installation service or roofing companies for maximum level benefits.
Let’s make good use of ventilation methods such as natural ventilation and ventilation ridge and aim for a comfortable home.
At a Glance (Roof Ridge Vent Pros and Cons)
| Pros | Cons |
| Cost-effective for long-run functionality | High initial and maintenance cost |
| Balance the temperature, keep the house cool in summer and warmer in winter | Not appropriate for hot weather |
| Beneficial for houses with low roofs | Not applicable on roofs with short ridge lengths |
| With the addition of extra layers, rain leaks and nose can be prevented | Amplify outside noise; extra insulating layers needed |
| The entire roof assembly, inside and out, is protected against premature depreciation | Additional consumption of dedicated materials in roof ventilation projects when its surface is large |
| No more conditions are created for the development of mold, dampness, or the establishment of insects | Imbalances can occur in the roof ventilation system when its inclination and surface are not taken into account |
(Last Updated on August 5, 2022)
