When we lived in South Carolina, we had a ridge vent installed on the roof of our house, and it worked very well for us.
Now, we’re up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and considering doing the same thing here, but we don’t know if it’ll be as effective, considering the cold winters we have here. While I haven’t taken a survey, I haven’t seen many houses with it, either.
So would ridge vents help up here? We wanted to get a general idea from the board before we approach a contractor.
Even more so, because up there in Yankeeland, you’ll have to worry about ice dams. You’ll need soffit vents, too, of course. The idea is to keep the deck of the roof cold in the winter so all the snow stays frozen instead of melting, moving down, and freezing when it hits your eaves, creating an ice dam.
Well, back when Tom was governor of Pennsylvania, it might have been useful to vent against him; but now that he’s at the Office of Homeland Security, I doubt he cares much what folks are saying about him in his old home state.
Use of ridge vents is totally dependant on the type of roof you have and the ventilation designed into it. Odds are every attic area could stand better ventilation. The ventilation will help to equalize the temperature of the air in the attic with that outside. Preventing heat build up. It also allows an exchange of moisture. This is most important. Moisture can condense on the drywall that separates the air-conditioned/heated portion of the house and the attic space. Without ventilation to remove the moisture it will along with dust and other organic material in the attic act as a breeding ground for mold and mildew.
You can measure for your self to see if a ridge vent will help. You should have at least 1 sq foot of ventilation space for every 150 sq feet of attic “Floor” space. Even if you chose not to ad a ridge vent, make sure the soffet vents are clear. They often get covered over by poorly educated but well-meaning homeowners who are trying to save on energy