Possible to have too much soffit intake venting for roof/attic

atticroofsoffitvent

Is it possible to have too much soffit intake? Currently my simple gable roof on a ranch home has 8 RVO38 vents but NO soffit intake vents (terrible!). Of course the attic space runs incredibly hot and is not doing me any favors. I need to get the venting improved pronto.

The soffit boards sag and have signs of water damage from previous owner's overflowing gutters, so I wanted to replace them with some t&g cedar and put in a continuous soffit vent. If that didn't help attic venting I would have a ridgeline vent installed. Would it potentially be bad to give myself all that soffit venting or could I try that and see if it is adequate before going to a ridgeline vent?

Best Answer

You generally want a balanced system with equal intake and exhaust areas, but if you can't balance the system, then there should be more intake area so none of the exhausts (usually near the peak) get back-drawn and act as intakes.