INSULATION AND ROOF VENTS

Insulation and roof vents, if it were necessary which one could you do without? Well, before we answer that question we will mention that ceiling insulation is necessary to ward against the elements of heat and cold from entering the home. However, without an effective roof ventilation system you could be asking for major condensation problems – see Blog on this site “Warning! Read Before You Design your Next Housing Project”.

To answer the question insulation or roof vents, which one could you do without if need be – when the Federal Government Insulation Program was in full swing we were flooded with complains from recipients who had the insulation installed, since the insulation was installed their homes were considerably hotter than before the insulation. We solved their problems with our ventilation systems.

Another example for the need for roofspace ventilation over ceiling insulation – a Brisbane home without any ceiling or roof insulation had our Smoothline Roof Ventilation System installed the temperature was logged every 20 minutes with two temperature loggers inside and outside the home for several days and after this the hot zone was reduced inside the home in the hottest part of the day by approximately 6 hours – See Smoothline Case Study in Case Studies on this site.

A few weeks later experiencing the same temperatures the Brisbane home was reroofed with sarking under the roof sheet and ceiling insulation installed, the temperature was logged and the heat zone in the home in the hottest part of the day was reduced by 4 hours. So therefore with the ceiling insulation and sarking installed the hot zone was only reduced by 4 hours, this 2 hours is quite a difference in comfort and proves that an effective roof ventilation system is better than insulation if this is all you can afford.

As we have been in the roofing industry for over 5 decades we believe insulation to be a positive however there must be an effective roof ventilation system installed with the insulation.

These are two reasons why effective roof ventilation beats insulation hands down in the summer months however without effective roof ventilation condensation problems will ensue in the winter – there are many Blogs on this site regarding condensation problems.