Ventilation-------What really is the best system for the Metro DC area?

Everyone has hyped up ridge vents with the soffit vents for the past 10 - 15 years or so (at least in the Metro DC area they have); trying to sell the savings on electricity....the natural convection and so forth. I am more and more feeling that ridge vents are sort of useless. Sure there must be some air that gets out but how much? With no or little air movement outside....how much is the ridge vent with the soffits doing? The design of the vent also...the air has to travel up and back down and up again to go out the vent. Now they're selling solar fans. I've installed 3 for homeowners, and it seems like the blades hardly spin. I can't see how they are pulling much air.

I am down to thinking that the best way is the power attic fan. Now which one is the big question. I recently read about some German Attic Fan sold by a company Horizons Energy Systems. http://insulmation.stores.yahoo.net/index.html

Gable mounted verus roof mounted????

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.

The baffled ridge vents are the best as long as there is plenty of ridge and unobstructed soffit vents. I don't know why they even make non-baffled vents because they are worthless. However, many hip roofs don't have much ridge, so the power vent is the best. The solar powered fans are over priced toys. They only run with direct sunlight. Any shade or a cloud will slow them down or they will even stop. Of course, they won't run at night. In Texas, it's usually 95 degrees at midnight in the summer so the fan needs to run all night sometimes. Even at full strength, the solar fan will move less than half what a power vent will move.

In a properly vented attic, there will be so much air movement that you will have to clean out the soffit vent every year because it will plug up with debris.

The ventilation seminar I went to a few years ago said that they want 50 - 50 intake / exhaust to 60% intake - 40% exhaust.

I once had to crawl up in an attic to find a leak with soffit / ridge vent system. There was a pretty good breeze blowing; as I was making my way across the attic, a gust blew my hat off. I couldn't believe how much wind made its way into the attic area.