Turbine or ridge vent?

[IFallsRon]

My storage shed needs a new roof this summer. It gets pretty hot in the summer sun, so I want to vent the roof. What's a better option: wind turbine or ridge vent?

[Eric Wettschreck]

Our fire dept went to a small training thingy a while back. They had 2 model houses. One had ridge vents and the other had a couple turbines. We filled the houses full of smoke to see which provided better ventilation.

Hands down, no comparison, wind turbines are the way to go. I could not believe how much MORE air was moved through the turbine than through the plain ole ridge vent.

[FISH NET]

Yon need intake air vents to get the air to exchange. Homes have intake air vents in the soffit and ridge vents or multiple hole vents for exhausting air heated by the roof. This keeps you cooler in the summer and prevents ice dams in the winter. Wind turbines are most effective when there's a breeze. They are used mainly when natural flow from a low to high point is not available. If you can put venting in a lower part of the shed then ridge venting will work fine.

[minneman]

boilerguy, did you fill the attic w/smoke, if not how did smoke get up in the attic? attic access open? what was the point of the test? thanks

[Eric Wettschreck]

The actual point of the test was training for our dept to use the homes built in ventilation and do our own ventilation too boot.

The whole house was filled with smoke, access open or not it's going to get up there.

From what I saw, if there is good inlet air from the soffets, the turbines get rid of the stuff fast. Even if it's not spinning very fast.

[AQUAJOE]

So on a day that is 95 and no breeze which is better? Sounds to me like it really doesn't matter if the air isn't moving.

So with that being said the ridge vent is at the highest point of the roof where the heat goes breeze or not.

Maybe I am missing something. Oh and we are talking about a shed. Which is the more bang for the buck?