Soffit is basically the underside of a building or a beam on the roof top of a room. This underside of an attic can be used for placing the soffit vents, i.e., the air ventilators. What do these soffit vents do? They prevent the build up of ice on the roof in cold weather and keep it cool in hot weather. Attic ventilation should be the primary concern of the builder during construction because it is the area that tends to absorb moisture, and become damp. This dampness produces bad odor and invites various health problems. The place becomes moist and damp because of stacked items not getting fresh air. With development in the technology, various soffit vents have captured the market. These vents do the same job of air ventilation but, differ in their structure and some features. In the following segment, we will learn about the types of these vents in detail.
Soffit Vent Types
Although there are various types of vents available, make sure that you get only the one that is suitable for your house and its attic. Shape of the soffit vent also has to be taken into consideration when it comes to ventilation of the attic. There are two basic categories of soffit vents:
- Wide vents designed to fit into the framing
- Long strips that are fixed together in a line
The division of these vents is based on these basic categories and the three types of soffit vents are as follows:
Custom Shape Soffit Vents
These vents are mostly found in custom houses. There are two shapes of vents in this category, the round shaped and square-shaped soffit vents. The round shaped range from 3 to 6 inches in size whereas the square-shaped range from 5 by 5 inches to 7 ½ by 10 ½ inches. These vents are available with the individual vents which we will be looking at next.
Individual Soffit Vents
These are the most common type of vents and also very popular because a person can install these vents easily and without professional help. Individual vents are cut to fit appropriately into your soffit beams. As these vents can be cut, they vary in their length and width offering you multiple variations to choose from. Another great feature of this vent is that, it has a screen backing which helps to keep pests and other tiny insects away from the soffit. The materials used for these vents are wood, aluminum and PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride).
Continuous Soffit Vents
These are the second most popular soffit vents. They are extended lined up vents to cover the whole soffit length of your roof. These vents are beneficial for homes that have long and narrow soffit sections. The average length of a continuous soffit vent is 95 to 96 inches and the width is about 2 inches. The material used to design these vents is either PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) or aluminum.
Some other
types of attic vents are enlisted below:
- Ridge Vents
- Dormer Vents
- Gable Vents
- Roof Vents
These attic vents are fixed at different positions of the attic and so they are named accordingly. All of them are positioned from outside the house, only the soffit vents are placed inside.
How do You Know Your Home Needs a Soffit Ventilation?
Nowadays, all homes need soffit ventilation and the vents are installed during the construction. But, older homes do not have them and even if they are installed later they are inadequate in number. Your own experience can tell you whether you need soffit ventilation or not. All you have to do is, perform a keen survey of your attic and find out the temperature level in different seasons. This will give you an idea about the need of soffit ventilation for your house and the number of vents required.
This was all about the soffit vents and their types which can make your attic a better place for storing your household stuff. Select a proper location to fit your soffit vents to get maximum benefit out of it.
