When I moved into our 60 year old house, it had an open gable vent on one end of the two story house. During the summer, I added another open gable vent on the other end of the house to create cross breeze ventilation. Since the attic is not finished living space, I also insulated between the floor joists. Now that I have added pull down stairs, I am considering putting a floor in the attic and using it for storage. My question is why do some homes have open vents all year around,even in the winter when its 10 degrees outside, But many homes dont have any vents in their attic at all,.Does that create a problem in the winter for homes with no attic vents? Obviously, in the summer it would be much hotter,but who cares if your not living up their right?Should my vents be open on both sides of my home all year around,considering that the attic floor is insulated? I feel that the 10 degree weather is going right into my attic instead of allowing the Sun to help heat that part of my house by keeping it closed up so anything valuable I would never store up there.10 points for the best answer. Thank you.