How a Crawl Space Exhaust Fan and Crawl Space Dehumidifier Protect Your Home
- February 5, 2021
- No Comments
You may have never looked inside your home’s crawl space. Most people don’t think about the crawl space unless there’s a problem. But the fact that you’re reading this article indicates you think you have a problem and you’re wondering if a crawl space exhaust fan and crawl space dehumidifier can make a difference. Yes, they can. Keep reading to learn more.
Most crawl spaces in the Mid-Atlantic region are damp, musty places. That’s because the dampness can seep up from the ground as well as through your foundation walls. If you live in an area with a high-water table, you may also have standing water on a regular basis. Often the ground in your crawl space may not be level, due to a number of factors, and this allows for water to collect.
All of this dampness and standing water can lead to a number of issues. You may need a long-term solution if:
- You have unusually high heating and cooling bills. The more air leaks your crawl space or basement has, the more you will lose warm air in the winter, and draw in warm air in the summer. A common symptom of this is cold feet on your floors in the winter months.
- You see mold and mildew in the bottom corners of rooms on the first floor. This means water is migrating up from the crawl space and into the floor joists, studs, and drywall.
- Your flooring on the first floor is buckling or even becomes soft and deteriorated. This is due to humidity migrating up into your home in the winter due to the crawl space being cold and the rest of your home being warm. This also happens in the summer when your air conditioning is running and the hot damp air in your crawl space condensates on the floor joist and subfloor.
- You’re having more indoor allergy symptoms. This may be due to your HVAC system drawing the air in from near or within your crawl space.
- You have a musty smell on your first floor with no visible explanation.
A crawl space exhaust fan and crawl space dehumidifier combo can help you protect your home and resolve these issues.
As part of an overall crawl space encapsulation project, the exhaust fan and dehumidifier can:
- Help prevent and manage high humidity
- Decrease mold and mildew occurrence
- Reduce musty smells
- Decrease radon levels
- Create several whole house air exchanges per day
- Provides a healthier home environment
- Increase the value of your home
Both products are energy efficient and can help improve the indoor air quality as well. So you’re not only protecting your home, but you’re protecting your family’s health when you install one or both of these products. Crawl space encapsulation creates a vapor barrier that seals out water and moisture. The exhaust fan and dehumidifier manage the humidity in the air.
Crawl Space Exhaust Fan
A crawl space exhaust fan is designed to expel damp, musty air as well as airborne particulates from your crawl space. This is not something you would do yourself by opening up your crawl space vents and putting a small box fan in the opening. In fact, trying to do this project yourself may actually lead to increasing humidity levels.
The exhaust fan can work in tandem with a crawl space dehumidifier to draw out the damp air and replace it with dryer air from the conditioned area of your home. We highly recommend the EZ Breathe Air Exchanger for this purpose. We are certified installers, and many of us have one in our own homes, so we can vouch for the difference they make.
Crawl Space Dehumidifier
For a highly efficient and reliable crawl space dehumidifier, we also turn to Santa Fe Products. These whole house dehumidifiers provide outstanding dehumidification and mechanical outdoor air ventilation. Value Dry Waterproofing is a local contractor for Maryland and northern Virginia. We will ensure your crawl space dehumidifier is properly sized for your crawl space and the rest of your home.
These are not portable dehumidifiers that you have to plug in and empty buckets of water every few hours. They are whole house and large space dehumidifiers (for i.e. your crawl space) that help regulate the humidity throughout your home. Typically a crawl space dehumidifier empties directly to the sump pump system that is installed as part of the encapsulation process.
Schedule a FREE Crawl Space Inspection
If you have a damp crawl space, buckling or soft floors, cold feet in the winter, or you’re worried about standing water or mold and mildew forming, the team here at Value Dry Waterproofing can help. The first step to addressing these issues is scheduling a crawl space inspection. Just fill out our contact form to get started. You can also call us at 888-768-2583.
We’ve been in business for more than 20 years, and we can assure you our inspectors and technicians are some of the most qualified and experienced folks in the industry. If you decide to choose us to complete your crawl space encapsulation project, we offer quality workmanship backed up by superior customer service, and a lifetime transferrable warranty.
We work with homeowners throughout Maryland, northern Virginia, Washington DC, the West Virginia Panhandle and Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware.