Crawlspace Vent Fan Installation - KEEP YOUR CRAWLSPACE DRY!!!
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2023
- In a perfect world, crawlspaces would not exist in my opinion. They are a horrible idea in the hot humid south. But nevertheless, they do exist and we have to deal with them. Many clients on a budget cannot afford to air seal the space and condition it, or cannot find anyone to perform such a task. So how do we stop mold growth and condensation if conditioning the space is not an option? AIR FLOW! Let that thing breathe! The worst thing you could do is fill the crawlspace with ductwork and insulation in the south specifically. It PREVENTS air flow. We want to PROMOTE it. While often times a crawlspace fan might not even be necessary, there are special occasions where we use them. This specific model has a built in Dehumidistat & Freeze Protection Thermostat. Close your vents in the winter, make absolute sure they are open in the summer. I hope this helps someone.
Instagram: / miillersconstruction
Link to fan - amzn.to/3t7aKno
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#crawlspacehumidity - Навчання та стиль
Great video. Nice job boxing in the fan.
Well done. Very helpful. My space is not so tight but I could feel your pain 😢
Im glad it showed through in the video LOL! Thanks for watching.
@@miillersconstruction question, I am in western NC, gets fairly cold in winter. Cabin is only 520 sq ft. I am going back and forth about fans like you did here or sealing it. I have 3-5 blocks high on the walls. With fans, what do you do in the winter time? Thanks - David
@@DavidMChampeau That's a great question. First of all, If you seal up any crawl space, just make sure you condition that space. In other words, you need to dump a supply and a return duct into that space, or install a dedicated dehumidifier to that space. Sealing It up and not conditioning. It will be disastrous. As for the fans in the winter time, these particular fans have a dehumidistat and a thermostat. If the temperature drops below 50°, it turns them off. If the temperature is dropping that low, it's time to close the vents anyways. So what I tell clients is this, when it gets cold, close the vents regardless of what the fan is doing. If the fan is still running and the thermostat isn't functioning correctly, I always have them on a switch right next to the crawl space just in case. Hope this helps.
@@miillersconstruction yes if I was to seal it up I would also add a dehumidifier. the challenge with closing the vents in the winter is the vents do not seal well at all. on a side note, the guys who built the foundation, the house is 2 years old, put a block sideways in the vent hole. its very strange.
@@DavidMChampeau That is a very old school thing I have seen a few times. If you have the ability to seal it up, do it. Vapor barrier on the ground and up the sides of the foundation walls, taped everywhere. For situations where that just is not an option, these fans really help in the summer heat. Just promoting air flow helps more than anything.
Hi there! Such a good video and glad you're under there and not me.. looked like a very tight squeeze! Question, I have been having a problem with moisture it seems when the subfloor of my house is actually buckling my laminated wood planks that are put down. It was recommended to put a vapor barrier down and now I have heard about these fans. I had a company out to check for a leak and they told me the beams were covered in mold. I've only lived her for about 3 years, but it was builting the 60s. Thinking of doing some but the person that recommended said they have a fan to flow in and a fan to blow out. Not sure how that works. Please enlighten if you know about that. Thanks for all your help, keep it up!
Hey thanks for checking out the video! Yes if you can get air movement, things will dry out! Unless you completely air seal and condition that space, you will ALWAYS have humidity in that space. A vapor barrier on the ground isn't going to do much good, and I've actually seen it hold water and make the situation even worse. Install fans and let it breath! More crawlspace vents are good too!
This is a very helpful video. We just had new vents cut on either end of our retangular shaped crawl space. Now we need to buy and install fans. Who is best to perform theae tasks that you just did? An electrician or general contractor?
Good question. I'm a carpenter/remodeler and we do this type of work often. It's going to depend on your location and the individual you contact. I would suggest a remodeling contractor first.
How's it working out?
Any reason/ benefit to setting up dual fans for push/pull arrangement (cross flow across space)?
Definitely some benefit to that if the space is appropriate to do such. For instance if your home is shaped more like a rectangle, one at each end would be great. One pushing and one pulling. And they actually make some that are reversed that are pulling in fresh air that you install underneath in the crawlspace as well.
Hi. The fan is sufficient to keep the crawlspace dry? Even in humid summer months?
Was strongly considering diy encapsulation and dehumid.
If vent fan is sufficient I'd def be down to try that 🤪. We have had mold and moisture issues for sure. And it even caused structural issues with some of the wood. But I think water entry from poor grading contributed a lot to all that.
We have HVAC condensation on ducts too though. So it's def too humid down there.
We had a poorly laid vapor barrier so at a minimum I'll do a proper install of that 6" up the walls and taped well
I removed the insulation, repaired structure, and treated mold already. And will regrade the yard.
I could encapsulate and dehumid myself for maybe 1k more then just doing vapor barrier. And would include wall insulation which I thought would also help HVAC efficiency. (It's in the crawlspace)
Athens Georgia
Thanks
I only recommend the fans if encapsulation and dehu is not an option. I would strongly suggest getting the ductwork out of that space.
Thought that was a badger crawling in at the opening!!
Muskrat.....
I had two powered "Temp Vents" installed by a Pest Control company years ago, attached to a humidistat.
One stopped working, and Temp Vents seems to be out of business.
What is a good brand, and where can I buy them?
I'm not sure what brand to tell you to install, we got these from Amazon and they're still running fine.
So closed cell spray foam insulation shouldn't go in smaller crawl spaces?
Who said that? I would've loved to have used closed spray foam on this entire Job. But it would've cost a small fortune.
What does it look like from the outside after adding this?
Absolutely cannot see it.
I have a fully encapsulated crawlspace with a dehumidifier, and it makes the living space above smell very musty. I was told by my installer there is nothing they can do. Wondering if opening one vent up and installing a fan like this would help? They told me it defeats the purpose of what I did by encapsulating it, but the smell is awful. I’m in Atlanta.
Very strange about the smell. You should have no smell and they are correct, it would totally defeat the purpose. If you have a smell, it would seem to me like the dehumidifier potentially isn't big enough for the space. You should smell nothing. I would recommend first figuring out what the smell is. I would assume it's a form of mold growth. There's just no telling really. If they did their job correctly, and the dehumidifier is sized large enough, you should never have an issue, especially a smell. I would be inspecting the work.
@@miillersconstruction thank you. I re-did the encapsulation when I moved in, because the old one was so poorly done, ripped, etc. When they took off the old vapor barrier, the soil smelled so badly of cat-piss musty ammonia, it was brutal. No rodents were found, but the installer said it was pretty severe by comparison to other homes. I suspect the house had fungus down there at some point maybe, and it was remediated, so no more evidence of it now. Previous homeowner said she would have somebody pour baking soda underneath the vapor barrier to cut the smells. But, I’m wondering if fungus gets to the soil or in wood and just lingers? The dehumidifier that was down there previously didn’t work well. So I imagine the humidity was out of control. Will this eventually go away now that I’ve corrected the issues?
@@cpg8000 if the food for mold growth is gone, the mold will die. Just to clarify, there is a vapor barrier that's well sealed on the ground and up the walls correct?
@@miillersconstruction good to know. Yes, vapor barrier very neatly taped and joined on the floor, and around the footings, as well as against the cinderblock foundation walls with tape and appropriate foundation nails.
@cpg8000 a dehumidifier will almost eliminate all smells ... before vapor Barrier was laid should have seen how wet the dirt was.. rats and cats love going under the house and doing their business... check the toilet and stack it might have a very small leak and being it holds no pressure human waste could easily leak out and you might not notice it
Best way to keep down the humid in summer keep all vents close up. My buddy is tanner flowers he has the most crawlspace videos on UA-cam and #1 in the usa on crawlspace encapsulations air out should help but keep everything else close ive been dealing with this new home 2 years hold air handler in crawlspace i thought rule was vent open in summer close in winter so pipes dont freeze my air handler sweat so bad alot of water last summer kept vents closed did not sweat at all but 80% of air in home come from crawlspace im not a fan of breathing old stail crawlspace air so im thinking about putting in one of these fans to blow out the old air im just hoping it does not allowed humid summer air in when not running
All I can tell you is what I've learned works well in our area. If you can't condition the crawl space, You need to let it breathe. If your HVAC ductwork is in the crawl space, You will always have issues.
how do you close it? did u upgrade the screens?
@@zeseanisart9243 no. Stock crawlspace vents. The fan is mounted inside the crawlspace so the client can simply close the vents on the outside when cold weather hits.
@@miillersconstruction im too paranoid when it comes to electronics being left unintended down there. Is this safe ? no future issue with sparks that can start a fire?
@@zeseanisart9243 it's connected to a GFCI breaker and we have it on a switch just behind the crawlspace door. If installed properly, you should have no issues.
Please report back next summer.