Understanding Attic Ventilation
Throughout the balance of this article the terms attic and roof are used interchangeably.In cold climates, the primary purpose of attic or roof ventilation is to maintain a cold roof temperature to control ice dams created by melting snow, and to vent moisture that moves from the conditioned space to the attic. Melted snow, in this case, is caused by heat loss from the conditioned space. The heat loss is typically a combination of air leakage and conductive losses.Citation: ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 48, No. 4