LESLIE: Jim in Florida’s up next. What’s on your mind?
JIM: You know, I received some information in the mail … just a photo of a … of a vent that was powered by solar energy. And I didn’t know whether this was bogus or is there such a thing. But it was … it seemed a little interesting.
TOM: Is it an attic vent, Jim?
JIM: Yeah, an attic vent.
TOM: Yeah. Well, I’ll tell you, you don’t really need any power for an attic vent. If an attic vent is installed properly – if your roof is properly vented – it basically should be open all the time. So it doesn’t need to come on or off. The best venting system is one where you have a continuous ridge vent – that’s the vent that goes down the peak of the roof – matched with a continuous soffit vent, which is the overhang of the roof. And the reason that’s important is if you live in a warm climate, the air – as it blows over the roof – is going to depressurize at that ridge and suck out all of that hot air from your attic. And if you live in a cooler climate, in the winter time, it’s going to do the same thing except it’s going to pull out the moist air.
So those two vents work hand in hand to properly vent your attic. So there’s no miracle cure for this. It’s simply passive ventilation that’s installed properly – using convection in mine (ph) – and it basically does the job for you. You don’t need any electricity – solar powered or otherwise – to run it.
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