On Apr 8, 5:59*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On 04/08/12 5:48 PM, wrote:

On Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:42:42 -0400, *wrote:

I have heard that ridge vents only work well if there are wide soffits,
like 12" or more.

On houses with narrow soffits, box vents are recommended.

Any truth to this?

Don't see how the size of the soffits would matter. *The area of the vents
(equivalent opening) certainly matters. *While they're related they're not the
same. *A 12" soffit isn't all that wide though.

It is compared to my 6" soffits.

12" or more was the number that a roofing estimator used when he
recommended box vents for my house.

He mentioned box vents, I asked why not a ridge vent, he said my soffits
are too narrow.

He then went on to explain that ridge vents only work well with wide
soffits, 12" or more.

The principle is that hot air rises. So, you want intakes
near the bottom and outlets near the top. Whether the
outlets are ridge or box vents isn't going to matter.
What's more important is the square footage of each.

As to needing soffit vents that are greater than 12" wide,
are we talking CONTINUOS soffit vents? If so, the
roofer is nuts. Vents even 3 or 4" wide, run continously,
are going to provide a lot of intake area.

I'd go with the ridge vent. And if the soffit vents aren't
big enough, then I'd enlarge them, if possible. Many
cases all it takes are one of the small cordless circular
saws run down the length. Plus ridge vents, IMO, look
a lot better.