Crawl Space Fan

[SwampSurvivor]

I ran a crawlspace fan the first year I was in my house. That's because the crawlspace was very flooded when I bought the house. But between the vapor barrier and sump pump, I haven't felt that I had a lot of moisture down there or molding/rot issues in the last two years.

I just leave the covers on year round now. Also , crawlspace encapsulation isn't for everyone. I have way too high of a water table for that.

 

[Donald]

I realize it's not going to be a perfect solution year round but for $100 I think it will help most of the time to at least move the air around and remove possible radon. When it's dry air outdoors it will also help to lower the RH down there.

I think you need more than a vent or fan in areas with high humidity during the summer. The money spent on a dehumidifier will be peanuts compared to the money needed to resolve mold and wood decay in the basement because it was damp. Selling a home with a moldy crawlspace will ne next to impossible.

But you don't have to spend $20K on a basement encapsulation either.

 

[Spector]

A dehumidifier for about 300 will do a great job, you need to get that humidity down around 50% to stop the mold. New thoughts on crawlspaces are to have no air vents, completely sealed if possible then dehumidifier.

 

[odie]

Master Flow has many different options for venting . Can be purchased at Home Depot , Lowes , etc.. Some vents use solar for fans . Last , there are those that use digital settings for humidity and temperature .

 

[Wylie6G72]

It won't work. Venting of a crawl space only works if the RH of the outside air is below 50%. I doubt if it is in Tenn during the warm part of the year which is when you want to reduce the RH in the crawl space. Venting is kind of old way of doing things. You need the vapor barrier and a dehumidifier. Preferably one built for a crawl space like SantaFe or AprilAir. Seal up the vents with foam board. Some vent a little once the crawl space is all sealed just to exchange the air. Not to reduce the RH. Get a wireless RH sensor for crawl space so you can see what is going on with the RH. You can go wild and really seal up the crawl space and walls, seams taped, etc. But typically a vapor barrier on the floor and a dehumidifier and sealed vents will do what is needed. You want the crawl space at 45 to 50% RH so no mold will grow down there.

This is exactly what my sister had to do in Charlotte.