How is the ventillation in the normal attic?

Question

If there is a gas leak in the attic or some air pollution in the attic, how does the attic vetillate it? In a normal house, the attic ventillation is good enough to circulate air quickly?

I don't have a gas leak. But if there is possibly a gas leak in the attic where gas furnaces are located, do I need to worry about it?

How strong is the attic ventillation? Sometimes, I feel the negative air pressue when I open the door that leads to the attic.

Answer 1

A gas leak in any enclosed space is dangerous. You should be able to tell pretty easily how ventilated the attic is. If the house is old, and has not been reroofed recently, it is likely not to have ridge vents, or soffit vents and may not have much ventilation.

Even with ventilation, you don't want a gas leak in the attic. "Pollution" on the other hand will likely be drawn outside instead of into the living quarters, as you indicated in your question (air is drawn out of living quarters into attic). The attic has a chimney effect, drawing air out of a house.

The specific answer to this question of how quickly it is ventilated has a lot to do with age and style of the house, and where it is located. It is also pretty common that people shove insulation over soffit vents, reducing the ventilation.

Answer 2

If you a talking about a 'finished' attic, then gas should be evacuated through the roof vents. Air enters in through the soffet and travels to the peak. You could increase the air flow with the installation of power turbines should you feel the need to do so. However most would be noticed by the occupants before it reached a level of that concern.

Answer 3

if you have a gas leak you should leave the house!
generally the attic is vented through the sides or through a roof vent that runs along the top at the peak
if you need to move air out quicker then you add a fan to one side and draw the air out

Answer 4

Venting attic air to the outside is very important for several reasons. Expelling volatile organic compond's (V.O.C.'s) or too moist air, too dry, too hot or cold air that will affect occupant health, wood and roof connected structures. Suppliers can offer a 'sized' solution based on square footage of attic. There are metal stacked vents, metal 'whirly birds', plastic roof ridge vent systems (placed beneath the asphalt shingle caps) old reliable gable vents covers, eave trough vents. These are all 'passive' without fans or motors involved with the escape route for attic venting. Venting out the attic is dependant on the level of living area air pressure, bathroom/kitchen mechanical fans, and outdoor wind speed and direction.

Answer 5

You may want to add some extra vents in the attic. Just for peace of mind. We had a bad mold problem in our attic. To much moisture so we had to add 2 more vents.

Answer 6

natural gas goes up, l/p goes down ( a little more dangerous)

any leak is dangerous!