The soffits on your house play a major role in your home’s ventilation system. They are the surface beneath the overhanging section of your house’s eaves. Though they are important for your home’s aesthetics, their main function is to assist with air circulation throughout your attic. Having these little holes into the attic at the lowest point of the roof, along the underside of your eave, will allow outside air to enter and more around the attic. Your soffit vents work in conjunction with your rooftop ventilation system. Chinook Exteriors Inc. in Calgary shares how soffit vents can protect your home and your health.
Proper attic ventilation protects your home.
It’s all about air flow. Summer can get hot in Calgary and as the sun beats down on your roof it is rapidly heating up the air in your attic. If you do not have good ventilation in your attic, that hot air could begin to seep through your ceiling and into your living space. This will make your home uncomfortably warm and put a strain on your cooling system, resulting in increased energy bills.
Proper attic ventilation is perhaps even more important in the winter. The warm, moist air that is in your living space will escape into your attic. As this air lingers it can start to condense on the underside of your roof sheathing. A build up of condensation could result in mould, rotting and a rapid deterioration of your home’s roof, rafters and framing. This water damage could lead to very costly repairs as it seeps into your ceiling, walls and window frames. Your soffit vents will help keep that air flow during the winter, moving that moist air outside and reducing the risk of damaging moisture build up.
Poor attic ventilation can also cause ice dams in the winter. This is when the warm air from your attic melts the snow on your roof and creates a runoff that then refreezes when it reaches the colder, outer eave of your roof. Overtime, ice can start to build up on the edge of your roof causing your gutters and sometimes even your shingles to detach from the roof.
Proper attic ventilation protects your health.
There is a link between home insulation, ventilation and poor health. Moisture build up in your home or inadequate air flow can affect your home’s air quality. Poor ventilation can also encourage the growth of mould and bacteria in your home.
Poor indoor air quality can cause: Asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems, headaches, eye and skin irritations, sore through, colds, flus, memory loss, dizziness, fatigue and even depression. If these issues are not dealt with they could lead to more serious health issues including: heart disease, reproductive disorders, sterility and cancer.
To maintain good indoor air quality, it’s important to ventilate stale or moist air caused by every day living. Your soffit vents play a role in your home’s overall ventilation system. They allow the fresh outside air to flow into your home will simultaneously permitting warm air to escape out of the exhaust vents. This good air circulation prevents dampness from forming, eliminating the growth of mould, mildew and other bacteria.
Soffit installation and repair:
If your home was built earlier than the 1990s, chances are your soffits are made of wood. Wood can deteriorate over time and if it is damaged it should be replaced. Chinook Exteriors Inc. offers high-quality, impeccably designed soffit in a variety of long-lasting materials and colours to suit your home’s style and your needs. Their experienced team will be able to repair and/or install new soffits that will restore or improve the air circulation in your attic, protecting your home and your health.
Contact Chinook Exteriors for a FREE consultation and estimate!
