Tornado Alley Roofing Company

McKinney Roof Repair Co. owner J. D. Dunphy, President of Tornado Alley Roofing, says that proper roof ventilation will lower your energy costs.

At Tornado Alley Roofing, we are often asked by homeowners, if the temperature in their attic is hotter than others that we’ve inspected. The answer, in the majority of cases, is that their attic is not particularly hotter than most. The unfortunate thing however, is that nearly all of them are far hotter than they should be in order for their roof structure to provide the cooling affect necessary to ensure the savings a homeowner would realize with proper ventilation.

Proper ventilation involves intake through soffit vents and output through roof vents. When the inflow is sufficient it creates a air current from the lower part of the attic to the vents at the ridge. This saves the homeowner money in several ways: The most obvious is the reduction in utility bills brought about by the fact that the air flow creates a cooler environment causing the air conditioner to engage less frequently. A less obvious one is that the life of the A/C unit itself is prolonged due to the decreased usage. Additionally, the life of the shingles is enhanced due to the decreased temperature.

So what causes the attic to be so hot? Generally it’s a combination of things. The most common problem we encounter is inadequate soffit ventilation. The soffit vents are located on the underside of the ’overhang’ where you roof slopes down and hangs over the sidewall of your home. Most homes have metal vent plates, similar to the air vents you have on your ceiling. They should be spaced a minimum of 10’ apart but even this is most often insufficient to create the airflow necessary to dispel the hot air through the roof vents. To oversimplify a more complex formula you should have at least two units of in flow through the soffit vents pushing one unit out through the roof vents.

The inadequate soffit ventilation, mentioned above, is usually caused by one of two things: either the vent holes are far too small because the builder permitted his installer to punch a couple of hammer holes in the soffits rather than saw a larger hole or the original or subsequent insulation installer blew insulation into the vent area plugging them so air cannot flow through.

The soffit vents are only half of the equation; the roof vents are the other. Roof vents come in various forms. The most common are what are commonly referred to as Turtle Vents. They look like a  nearly-flat square box. Another less common is the Turbine, often called a Whirlybird. Still less common is a Power Vent. In recent years, Ridge Vent has become more popular. The most effective, dollar for dollar, is Ridge Vent; it is slightly more expensive than either the Turtle Vent or Turbine but does a superior job in disapating hot attic air. Every house, however is not a good candidate for Ridge Vent due to the style of the roof. Many Hip Roofs do not have sufficient ridge run to adequately expel sufficient hot air from the attic to make it beneficial.

Having both Turtle Vents or Turbines combined with Ridge Vents is a mistake. Dispite this fact we frequently observed this combination installed by roofing contractors during a re-roof. The problem this creates is to cause the Ridge Vent to draw air from OUTSIDE the Turtle Vent INTO the attic space then out through the Ridge Vent. This not only almost completely negates the effectiveness of the Ridge Vent but also draws moisture from rain into the attic which causes humidity leading to mold, mildew and algae formation creating health hazards.

McKinney Roof Repair Co. owner J. D. Dunphy, President of Tornado Alley Roofing, has been providing quality roofing installation, roofing repair, and roof replacement services to residents in Plano, McKinney, Allen, Frisco, and the surrounding North Texas communities since 1983.  Tornado Alley Roofing is proud of the fact that most of our business comes from referrals. If you have a roof repair or replacement issue please give Tornado Alley Roofing a call at (888) TORNADO.