Energy Efficient Radon Mitigation System — Minneapolis Radon Testing and Mitigation | American Radon Mitigation

Is it Possible to Build a Energy Efficient Radon Mitigation System?

COSTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Radon systems run year round. Day, night, rain or shine. The Radon fans are spinning away to get a proper vacuum under the slab of your home to prevent Radon gas intrusion into your home. Even choosing the most energy efficient radon fan won’t do the trick. Choosing a properly sized fan or a fan that can have the speed increased or decreased to fit the job is the most appropriate.

ENERGY EFFICIENT RADON FANS

Energy efficient radon fans in our opinion are going to be the ones that have what is called a potentiometer on them. This is a small dial that we have the ability to turn up or down to control the fan speed based on the diagnostic testing and how much negative pressure we have under the slab. We want negative pressure under the slab to act as a vacuum to prevent Radon from entering the home.

Think this is the end all solution for energy efficiency for a Radon mitigation system? Think again! A mitigation system pulls air from underneath the slab of the basement or crawl space, not directly from the basement air, which is a question we at American Radon get often.

With that, if a basement or crawl space has cracks, gaps in block walls, or holes, this is a perfect pathway for the radon mitigation system to pull air from the basement itself, which isn’t what we want to happen.

Cracks in a crawlspace slab

Cracks can be detrimental to trying to get the best suction under a basement or crawlspace slab.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT THIS?

Sealing these cracks and holes!

Sealing cracks on its own will do little to nothing to lower the Radon level in a home. It can, however, make getting a more effective suction below the slab much easier and not pull air from your basement and home into the system.

“WHY IS PULLING AIR FROM THE BASEMENT A BAD THING? DON’T WE WANT THE RADON TO BE REMOVED?”

Estimates can be made based on airflow to determine how much money you could be losing to heated and cooled air without sealing. That is air that the homeowners have already paid to heat or cool. When we do our annual operating cost calculations, we can estimate based on airflow how much money you’re spending to heat and cool air that would have been lost without sealing. Also, a watt meter can be used to determine how much the fan itself will cost to run based on electricity consumption in your area. In worst case scenarios we have seen as much as over $1000 per year in operating costs when the biggest fan is thrown on the system, and no/poor quality sealing was done.

Bathtub Hole

ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RADON MITIGATION GO HAND IN HAND

At American Radon Mitigation we believe that systems that are properly engineered will get you the lowest Radon level possible, along with allow you to see a return on your investment over a shorter period of time. Make sure your radon system is installed using diagnostic testing, installing a fan with a potentiometer and sealing any cracks or holes to ensure your system will not end up costing you more than the initial investment in energy costs.

Contact us today for a free quote!