Should You Cover Your Roof Vents In The Winter

Even though vents can cause attics to become colder in the winter months they should still never be covered.

Should you cover your roof vents in the winter.

Roof turbines not only work to remove hot air from summer attics they also provide ventilation to reduce moisture. Why you shouldn t cover roof vents. According to the guy who writes the home improvement column in the local paper if you add a ridge vent you should close off the gable vents. Having your attic properly ventilated during the winter means that your roof won t get too warm because you re trapping air in the attic itself.

During the winter roof ventilation works to keep temperatures even. But like a lot of things in life just because you can doesn t mean you should. If your roof isn t warming up too much during the cold snowy weather then the snow that lands on your roof won t melt immediately only to refreeze on the edges where it can form ice dams. As built the attic of our 22 year old house was ventilated with gable vents and soffit vents.

Continuous soffit vent and a ridge vent beats a turbine vent any day. A debate ensued and because some builders are slow to change many foundation vents continue to be installed. Blocking the vents can even harm your home by trapping moisture inside the attic. Somebody told me well you ll save money in the winter if you cover your turbines up tom.

In the winter it seems to make sense to cover the vents like you might do for your external water faucets and the covers are relatively inexpensive and easy to find running around 10 20 each at most home supply stores. They should be treated as partially conditioned space to control moisture and decrease energy use. Regardless of the type of roof vent their purpose is the same which is to create air circulation and prevent attic and roof damage in the winter. Well now you know.

And in fact just so you know those spinning roof vents are probably not the best way to vent your roof. More recent thinking from building scientists dictated that crawl spaces should be sealed insulated and installed with a vapor barrier. We replaced the roof recently and when we did we added a ridge vent. Roof vents allow air to circulate through your attic and exit your home.

Think about it you d better believe that if covering your air conditioner in the winter was making a significant difference in the longevity of your air conditioning unit then the major companies would not only recommend it but they d probably provide you with a cover as part of your purchase. Well i also have those. You should absolutely leave your roof vents open during the winter do not cover them.