Attic Ventilation Net Free Area
The total net free area of the intake and exhaust must be balanced.
Attic ventilation net free area. Helpful hint for the 1 150 attic ventilation requirement simply double the amount of exhaust and intake calculated. Comments opinion about statements of net free ventilation area of various roof venting products. A normal metal pot vent produces only 50 squares inches of free net area. Attic square footage 2 square inches of exhaust and square inches of intake net free area nfa needed.
The passive vent net free area table gives the net free area ventilation for some common roof and gable passive vents. Besides the rated air ventilation area described by various vent product manufacturers other roof and vent opening details can significantly affect the actual airflow and level of under roof ventilation at a building. So for a 2400 sf attic space covered by roof you only need 8 sf of net free vent area to comply with the building code. Screen factor sf adjusts for airflow obstructed by screens and louvers.
Should you need to add more air intake ventilation to your attic simply determine the number of vents needed from the table based on your net free area requirements. So we would need at least six metal vents in addition to the lower soffit ventilation to meet minimum ventilation requirements. The calculations before indicated that we needed 2 square feet of ridge or upper roof ventilation. This calculates the 2015 international residential building code minimum irc section r806 roof ventilation 1 which states that 1 square foot of net free area for every 150 square feet of attic floor space with the attic defined as length x width floor of the attic.
Nfa is the unobstructed area through which air can pass through a vent usually measured in square inches. Eave vent gable vent roof jack soffit vent screen factor sf mesh sf w o louvers sf w louvers 1 4 or 1 2 1 0 2 0 1 8 1 25 2 25 1 16 2 0 2 0 nfa for common attic vents attic vents nfa. The net free area is always less than the actual area. Of net free area of intake needed at or near the soffit.
O hagin standard line of attic vents is available for contractor painting in 26 gauge g90 mill finish galvanized steel 0 032 aluminum 16 oz. If you do not have upper vents within 3 ft of the ridge then use 1 150. Calculate or enter the square footage of the attic or area to be vented. Check with your building official for current code and a copy of the section regarding roof ventilation.
Two square feet equals 288 square inches.