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Wouldn't a dehumidifier run 24/7 under there? You'll be buying a new one every year, and your power bill will go up. A dehumidifier is not a long lived machine in my opinion, that's why you see so many reburbished ones on ebay.
The vents around my house are not closeable. The only time I cover them is during the winter when it gets cold enough for my pipes to freeze.
Yeah, depending on how well the plastic is sealed and how well the vents are working, it could run a lot of the time. Still cheaper than replacing joists and dealing with mold.
I've looked at mine since the start of this thread, and some of them have failed to open and close properly. Not sure if I'll replace them with automatics, or go with manual ones like yours.
I hate poorly designed equipment, and I keep an 8lb sledge hammer handy to destroy stuff that irritates me. I try to do so in front of any other item that is acting up, explaining to it that this is what will happen to it if it continues to be a problem. For some reason, (and I'm serious in the midst of this frivolity) most of the time, I stop having problems with it. Even if it didn't have a good effect, there is satisfaction in hammering a mower that just cost $150 in repairs and immediately broke a different part. (I guess I better be more discrete about it though, or I'll have the People for the Ethical Treatment of Machinery on my tail.)
You have the crawl encapsulated good start! Now close the vents and condition the space, use a good quality dehumidifer like the Aprilaire 1710 don't buy those $200 junkers from Lowes or Home Depot. They will run constantly and never actually hit set point and you will be buying one every year.
There is a lot of research out there about venting crawls vs closed conditioned crawls...here is just one of the many research projects available there are better ones too, but this is the first one I found just now [URL]http://www.energycodes.gov/news/2003_workshop/pdfs/warren.pdf[/URL]
Bottom line DON'T VENT YOUR CRAWL this is the short version why you shouldn't...lets say the temp in your crawl is 65 degrees and the outdoor conditions are 80 degrees with 60% rh when that 80 degree air is vented into your 65 degree crawl you get condensation because you have reached dew point. The 65 degree air can't hold the amount of water the 80 degree air can hold even when the 80 degree air is on at 60% of saturation that is 100% rh at 65 degrees. Hope this makes sense.
Seems to me , if you completely seal your crawl space, no mositure can get into it. You can have a supply air vent from your a/c put a little conditioned air into it if it get stuffy or just to slightly condition the space. Be sure to seal all penatrations into the house. Just by ventaling your crawl with open vents and a fan is just a band-aid and the issue of moisture will continue.
You have the crawl encapsulated good start! Now close the vents and condition the space, use a good quality dehumidifer like the Aprilaire 1710 don't buy those $200 junkers from Lowes or Home Depot. They will run constantly and never actually hit set point and you will be buying one every year.
Wish I would have read your post before I purchased the $300 'junker' from Lowes...it's the Frigidaire one that has the continuous drain. I set it at 50% and while my crawlspace is dry for the first time in decades, the readout hasn't gone below 75% humidity. Maybe it has during times of the day but when I check it is around 80.
But it hasn't rained hard since I put it in either. I've had it since the first of September so it's been about 2 weeks.
I tore apart the walls of my crawlspace (home on a hill so the front foundation is ground level while the back is raised bout 4 feet) a few months ago so I could clean out from underneath, rake the dirt, put down the moisture barrier, insulate above-after doing some plumbing.
I'll be finished pretty soon....so should I make the crawlspace airtight as possible? Or vent? It's a mobile home but the joists and floor is wood, of course just like houses.
I tore apart the walls of my crawlspace (home on a hill so the front foundation is ground level while the back is raised bout 4 feet) a few months ago so I could clean out from underneath, rake the dirt, put down the moisture barrier, insulate above-after doing some plumbing.
I'll be finished pretty soon....so should I make the crawlspace airtight as possible? Or vent? It's a mobile home but the joists and floor is wood, of course just like houses.
I don't think that stuff about venting or not venting is all that important once you have a good moisture barrier installed.
If you are in a freezing climate, can do what many folks do. Get dry leaves and pack them tight into heavy duty garbage bags. Put the bags in a tight layer under the mobile. Prevents the ground from freezing and all the problems of frost heaves in mobiles. Can get the bags out if you need to get back under there to do maintenance. Also helps with any moisture problem if the bags of leaves are packed in tight enough.
I've seen it done without a moisture barrier, just the bags of leaves cuts any moisture down a lot. Takes some work and plenty of leaves, kills two birds with one stone. Won't have all those sticky doors in winter.
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Close the Vents
