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We live in a house with a crawl space in Charlotte, NC. How should the vents be positioned...open, closed, party open? We've always had basements before, so it's new for us. Do we need to move them at different times of the year? Thanks in advance!!
My dad always closed his during the winter but I don't know if it's a good idea or not.I just googled to see what everyone has to say and indeed some say open some say close. Some say the water table is always high in the south so condensation is an issue and to leave em open. Who the heck knows??!
Last edited by citydweller; 11-23-2008 at 09:56 PM..
Vent open to remove moisture, vent close to reduce heating costs and keep pipes from freezing. About 50 degrees is where the automatic vents switch between the two. At low temps, the moisture, while still an issue, isn't as important as keeping the ground heat in and floor somewhat warm.
Vapor barriers are a big help in limiting the ground moisture migrating upwards.
Some say the water table is always high in the south so condensation is an issue and to leave em open. Who the heck knows??!
yes that is true, and we always recommend a dehumidifier be installed in the crawlspace. they're not very expensive, and are a good investment to protect your home. it looks like a small air purifier sitting under your house, and plugs into a 120v receptacle. if your house is new, there should already be one under there and we extend the receptacle circuit off that. its also very common to install vent fans under the house. i'm thinking off the top of my head that they only pull around 7 watts a piece, so its very little power consumption. and we connect them to a humidistat so they're not running 24/7, but only when needed.
In our region, closed year round is ideal. Our air carries a lot of humidity during the warmer months. The vents pull the humid air into the crawlspace where it condenses on cool surfaces like the ducts and cold water supply lines. This can wreak havoc on your crawlspace environment. Advanced Energy (building scientists out of N.C. State University) did a long term study with 7 identical houses and changed our view on "open in the summer, closed in the winter". Advanced Energy
In fact, that site has a tremendous amount of energy information for the house.
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