Attic Ventilation

Have a 2 story house. The upstairs is very open with a loft, 1 bedroom and a bathroom. The loft looks down at living room. The living room ceiling is about 20 ft high so it is very open. The upstairs stays about 10 degrees hotter than downstairs. Have plenty of soffit vents but only small gable vents, maybe 12x18 in. No ventilation on the roof itself. I know it needs some but hate to add any untill I have to put a new roof on.
My question is do gable fans work well. Have thought about putting one in to help keep attic cooler. Would this help or should I do something else?
Tahnks

It may help some, but as you noted, bigger vents are required. The rule of thumb is that you should have as many square inches of gable or peak vent as you do soffit vent.

I plan on making the gable vents larger. I think when you put the fan in you buy gable vents that open when the fan is on. I think thet are about 20x16 with louvers that open wider due to fan blowing hot air out.
Thanks

I don't understand why you wouldn't put roof vents until you put a new roof. Roof vents are cheap and easy to install, probably cheaper than a fan, and don't need power.

You might look at ridge vents. They are very efficient. I think the ratio for roof vents is closer to 1/300th of the amout of soffit vents.

Of course the problem may not be the roof itself. The problem coust just be that hot air rises, and it accumulating upstairs. A simple ceiling fan on low might fix that problem.

I have both the ridge vent and automatic gable vents,
which by the way, have stayed on a lot lately... [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I can go in the attic now during the day.

Have the ceiling fan and it does help. What also concerns me is the life of the roof. That much heat has got to be hurting it.

The reason was waiting until new roof is thought it would be easier not to cause a leak.

Fivestring: The automatic gable vents you have is that a fan that blows heat out one of the gable vents, that is what is was considering.

Had 1 guy say he could put in ridge vent but thought that had to be done on new roof or when re doing roof.

thanks

Yes.
It sucks the hot air out of the attic and blows it outside.
I have one on each end of the house.
They are controlled by a thermostat.
My ridge vent was put on by the previous owner when the roof was re-done.

Shingles on a hot roof deteriorate much quicker than on a cooler one.

The fellow who told you that you should wait to put on a new roof for a ridge vent didn't know what he was talking about. Unfortunately, there is no scarcity of idiots doing roofing and/or renovations.

Case in point, I peeled a shingle roof off a house I owned. The roof had lasted only 10 years because 1) it was improperly vented 2) shingles were installed without tar paper foundation, and 3) shingles were improperly nailed (4 nails across the top instead of just above the 'slots'). The bad news was, any one of these errors voided the 25 year warranty on the shingles.

That was the last time I paid an 'expert' to roof a house or advise me on the subject.

A ridge vent is easy and quick to install and probably less likely to leak than any other type of vent (think about it - there's no water flowing at the ridge.)

Depending on the type, you go up on the rof & use a circular saw to cut a slot 1" either side of the ridge (NOT through the trusses!). Remove the sheating & cut shingles. Unroll the roof vent and nail it down according to the instructions. Cover the vent with shingles cut in 3rds. Go home.

Very easy to do. Anybody who can go up on a ladder, work a circular saw, and drive a nail can install a ridge vent.

You should be able to install a ridge vent in a hour or two. Or you can hire a handyman to do it for you.