How Your Crawl Space is Costing You Money

For years, typical building practice was to build a crawl space with vents to the outside for “proper ventilation”. However, what was discovered was that these vents were causing more of a problem with mold and wood rot than it was helping. Looking at these problems brought up another issue: energy waste. Think about what your heat and air conditioners do for you. If it is hot, they cool. If it is cold, they heat. Having these vents in your foundation allow the outside air right under your first floor. As you heat and/or cool your upstairs living space, the outside air is doing the opposite in the crawl space causing your heat and/or air condition to run more. For those of you that have duct work running through the crawl space, the problem is that much more of an issue. The air you are heating and/or cooling is running through the duct work below and the outside air is now counteracting what you are paying to accomplish.

Here is how we can save you money. First, any drainage issues in the crawlspace if there are any need to be addressed and this is relatively simple with a little bit of work. Second, we install a full encapsulation system, Clean Space. Third, we close off all of the vents and access ways into the crawl space. Lastly, we install a Sani Dry dehumidification system to condition the air and make sure the relative humidity is kept down.

The best part about this system is it solves not only your energy issue, but it will help you with the first two concerns I mentioned above: mold and wood rot. When we get those hot, dog days of summer at the jersey shore, it is humid. What is humidity? Moisture in the air. What do those vents do? Yes, they let that air in. That humid air attacks the wood, insulation, and anything organic and can allow for wood rot and/or mold growth. So okay, it isn’t humid all the time. However, the floor, dirt, and/or concrete all allow moisture to pass through. Moisture is the cause of the mold and wood rot.

To find out how we can help you cut back on rising energy costs or save you from costly structural and mold repairs, check out our website. If you want to find out how we can help, give us a call and we will be glad to send out a representative to show you how.