Why do we vent our crawl spaces?
The original reason was to allow them to dry out. Unfortunately, this concept does not work in our humid climate. During much of the year high humidity laden air enters the crawl space via the vents and then condenses on all the cool surfaces that are below the dew point. These surfaces are often your plumbing pipes and HVAC ducts. If we open our vents in the winter time to allow the cold dry air to enter the crawlspace maybe this drying concept could work. However, everyone operates the crawl space vents just the opposite to conserve heat or air conditioning.
So what is a better option you say?
Recent research at Advanced Energy in Raleigh has shown that a sealed crawl space can greatly reduce the moisture load on the home as well as save energy.
A Sealed Crawl space typically involves:
Sealing off the air vents
Insulating the crawl space walls instead of the floor
Using a tougher poly that resists puncture and extends all the way up the walls where it is mechanically fastened.
Installing a sump pump in case a plumbing pipe breaks.
Installing a dehumidifier to help keep the area dry.
Watch these videos to understand more about sealed crawlspaces
Crawl Space Water Sources and Solutions
Can You Close Your Crawl Space?
Advanced Energy's Closed Crawl Spaces: An Introduction for the Southeast
This 75-page guide is an introductory reference to crawl space issues:
- Design and implementation recommendations for closed crawl spaces
- Four sample closed crawl space designs and a sample construction sequence
- An overview of NC residential code requirements and issues
- Recommendations for improving existing wall-vented crawl spaces
- A summary of Advanced Energy's crawl space research results
- Answers to frequently asked questions about mold in crawl spaces
. For more information about the research on this topic look at www.crawlspaces.org
Call Appalachian Energy Solutions today to request an inspection to see if your crawlspace would be a good canidate for becoming sealed.