Dehumidifier Install for Moisture Control

Dehumidifier Install for Crawl Space Moisture Control

 

Normally, North Carolina and Virginia have warm humid summers which makes for a higher percentage of homes with wet crawl spaces.  The adage “Out of Sight Out of Mind” is very true when considering crawl space moisture issues because most homeowners don’t like to visit the dark dank space they have to stoop or crawl through to inspect.  Only when you smell mold rising from below, see wood rot, experience buckling floors or encountering standing water, you realize something is wrong.  What will reclaim the crawl space and bring back a healthy environment inside the home?  First, get crawl space professionals to discover the excess water source such as ground water seepage, plugged downspouts, misdirected storm water or leaking plumbing pipe all lead to severe moisture driven troubles and must be stopped.  Finally, an additional premier action is professional De-humidification- enclose the space and remove excess moisture.   Give Hero Mold Company an opportunity to prove we can fix the moisture issues in your crawl space at a fair budget value price. Start breathing cleaner air and feel how much better your health is.

Why is Crawl Space Moisture Bad?

 

A humid crawl space almost certainly has water damaged wood encouraging insects like carpenter ants to hollow out a shelter in it from which to send workers out foraging for food.  These large ants will most likely head to your kitchen and soil anything they get into. Termites’ also shelter in humid crawl spaces by building towers from their nest in the soil up into the home’s wooden framing eventually eating their way into your living space.  Also, critters, mold and fungus like humid dark spaces and will quickly multiply.   All of these previously mention parasites either separate or together will eventually destroy the stability of the home.  Essentially, all life needs water, remove it and all life in the crawl space dies.

Warning! a humid crawl space invites danger into your home.  Warm Air rises in a home and is expelled out the attic ventilation with replacement air pulled from the crawl space vents.  The air in a crawl space with open vents all around its perimeter is an everlasting source of high humidity, bacteria from pests, mold spores and pollen.  This polluted air is spread throughout the homes living space affecting susceptible family members such as children, elderly and immune deficient with horrid health effects such as headaches, respiratory infections, nausea or worse.  Some clients tell us they have trouble with Attic Mold- learn a little more here.

Can I just Place a Dehumidifier into the Crawl Space?

The crawl space is open to the environment through its earthen floor (moisture and gases source), its vents, numerous holes provide constant incoming humid air.  A dehumidifier placed into the open crawl space would have a very hard time reducing the humidity because moist air is always flowing back in.  The very least you could do to make a dent in crawl space humidity would be to seal the vents, plug every hole you can find and make sure you have a vapor barrier laid over the entirety of the dirt floor.  This will help greatly but your still drawing humidity from the concrete block or poured cement foundation walls.  The premier way of coping with all sources of humidity would entail a Crawl Space Encapsulation then placing a correctly sized humidifier.

Do Regular Dehumidifiers Work in Crawl Spaces?

Once the crawl space is prepped for dehumidification, mold clean up, wood repaired and perimeter vents sealed, a correctly sized dehumidifier designed for the specific space can be installed.  However, Dehumidifiers designed for indoor rooms are minus the characteristics needed for the best humidity control in a less climate-controlled environment.

Dehumidifiers Designed for Crawl Spaces:

• Crawl Space or Basement Humidifiers’ need to be durable enough to work 24/7 in a cramped space with low head room.  Crawl Space units are manufactured in a low horizontal shape with different dimensions correlating to water removal ability.
• They need to continue to work in very cold or hot conditions.  For example,
  

  Frozen Dehumidifier

  Dehumidifiers used in cold temperatures are equipped with auto-defrost ability to prevent excessive frost from building up on the compressor coils.

• Built in adjustable humidistat which causes the unit to shut off once the chosen humidity level has been reached, normally 30 to 40 percent.
• Continuous hose Drainage instead of a collection tank ideally with pump action to overcome uphill conditions on the path of pushing collected water out of crawl space or into drain pipe.
• Air purification system with replaceable filter will help secure good air quality since air rises from the crawl space up though the home.

Basement or Crawl Space Dehumidifier Costs

The First determining cost factor in Crawl Space Dehumidifiers is amount of water from 30, 50, 70 or 100 pints removed in a day. Next, will be the choice between basic and superior models.  For example, premium options attached Air purification system with replaceable filter, Digital display, Remote Control, Superior warranty and energy star label.  Professionals will usually install these units with straps attached to the floor joists to provide a slope for the drainage hose to move collected water out of the crawl space quickly.  Considering some of these units weigh 80 pounds moving or installing one yourself professionally is difficult.

Dehumidifier Operating Electric Cost

This is something you can figure out yourself:

First multiply the number of hours the Dehumidifier will run per day by its wattage.

Second Divide by 1000 to convert to KWh

Third multiply by your kW hourly rate

For example, a 30-pint model runs at 300 Watts per hour

Say the unit will run about 10 hours a day- this depends on the level of humidity.

300 x 10 hours per day = 3,000

Next divide 3,000 by 1000 = 3 to convert to KW hours

Multiply by power rate 15 cents per KW  15 x 5.3 = 45 cents a day.

To be as cost wise as possible, use the smallest pint unit dehumidifier that’ll cover your space properly.  Seek advice from a Professional Crawl Space Contractor like Hero Mold Company to understand your options.  All of the Locations we service can be found here