Roof Ventilation

Roof Ventilators

Australia is known for its harsh weather, ranging from extremely hot to non-stop rain, which is the reason why homes need to withstand these unfriendly conditions. Roof ventilation is one method to keep homeowners comfortable, energy efficient and free from moisture damage during extreme weather conditions throughout the year. It can be overwhelming not knowing the right option for your roof ventilation since there are quite a number of options available.

Each homeowner have their own personal needs, doing a comparison between each roof ventilators can be quite daunting, it’s like trying to match apples to oranges. Here we will describe the commonly use roof ventilators and its differences, allowing you to make an informed decisions in selecting the best type for your home. 

Whirlybird Roof Ventilators

There are two type of passive ventilation available which doesn’t require power to operate. Ridge and Whirlybird ventilators are commonly used for homeowners that only wants natural ventilations. Here we will only discussed whirlybird roof ventilators because it is the most popular compared to the ridge ventilation.

Whirlybird can keep any home ventilated throughout the year and the only power it runs on is wind. As long as there is wind, your home will be ventilated. Since it uses the wind to ventilate your home, homeowners save on energy bills, the only downfall of this is, when days there are no wind, your home will be left with no ventilation.

Installation cost may be expensive depending on the size of a home. Some homes require several whirlybirds and each whirlybird cost approximately $200-$500 to install. As you can see, it can be quite expensive. Although the upfront cost is very high, it is easy to install since there is no electrical works such as wiring or routing required.

Solar Powered Roof Ventilators

Another alternative to a whirlybird is solar powered ventilators. In recent times solar powered vents is gaining popularity as it brings some benefits to homeowners and minimum drawbacks. Here we will discussed the positive and negative on installing solar powered roof ventilators.

Advantages:

• Greater airflow movement per hour compared to whirlybird.
• The cooling cost is basically free to operate since it uses the sun's power.
• The design is sleek and it is not an eyesore compared to a whirlybird.

Disadvantages:

• Since anything that is solar powered, it require the sun's energy, in this case ventilation only works during the day.
• Require further maintenance compared to a passive alternative.
• The product itself is more expensive than a passive ventilator, can cost up to $500-$1000 each, this excluding installation cost.

Smart Roof Ventilators

New ventilator design are coming onto the market with an incorporated smart chip to help the removal of heat and condensation from the roof. Smart roof ventilators electronically recognises and reacts to the roof space temperature and condensation conditions, keeping it cool in summer and dryer in winter. Commonly are installed together with smart lighting and fans in new constructed homes.