Indoor Air Quality – Questions to Ask to Choose the Best Placement for Your Dehumidifier in Your Crawlspace

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on
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Indoor Air Quality – Questions to Ask to Choose the Best Placement for Your Dehumidifier in Your Crawlspace

Investing in a dehumidifier is a necessity for a healthy crawlspace as well as for good indoor air quality. It is a well-known fact that the conditions in the crawlspace will have a direct impact on the quality of the air in the living space above. Dehumidifiers help to remove excess moisture from the air in the crawlspace. They play a key role in keeping the crawlspace dry and mold free. Dehumidifiers therefore help in maintaining good indoor air quality in the home.indoor-air-quality-ez-breathe-ventilation-system-1

For many homeowners, the placement of the dehumidifier in the crawlspace simply isn’t that important. They believe that simply placing the unit anywhere in the crawlspace will do. However, where you locate the unit is actually quite important.

The problem with poor placement

Many homeowners don’t realize that dehumidifiers produce a sound when operating. This sound can be loud depending on where the unit is located and the time of day. For example, if the unit is located under your bedroom, the noise is likely to disrupt your sleep when the unit is operating at night.

It is also important to note that dehumidifiers are generally inexpensive to run. However, their location within the crawlspace will have an impact on their efficiency. A unit that runs constantly will have a big impact on your power bill.indoor-air-quality-ez-breathe-ventilation-system-2

Choosing the best placement for your dehumidifier

There are several questions you should ask when locating a dehumidifier in the crawlspace.

  1. Will anything obstruct the dehumidifier? Place the dehumidifier in a location that is free of obstacles. There should be no piers or walls blocking air flow. This will ensure more efficient operation of the dehumidifier.
  2. Which rooms are above the dehumidifier? It is important to consider how the dehumidifier will affect the activities in the room above the space. It is best to avoid locating the dehumidifier below bedrooms to avoid disrupting sleep when the unit is working at night.
  3. Is there level ground? The unit should be installed on level and solid ground. This will have an impact on the level of noise produced by the unit during operation. A unit installed on uneven ground will also not function as efficiently.

Work with a crawlspace waterproofing expert to ensure that you place your dehumidifier in the best location. A well placed dehumidifier will mean better indoor air quality and lower energy bills.

Contact the Professionals at EZ Breathe Ventilation System Today! 866-822-7328

Written by Andre & Erika Lacroix

We are a 2nd generation family owned and operated business that has been working in homes with basements and crawl spaces for over 40 years.  We have been waterproofing and sealing about 500 foundations a month during that time as the largest Waterproofing contractor in the Midwest with 15 locations servicing 8 states.

20 years ago we would seal a foundation and recommend a standard dehumidifier to address the additional water vapor (humidity in the air) inherently found in below grade environments, such as basements and crawlspaces.  Back then, dehumidifiers were the industry standard to help with this problem. However, many of our customers were looking to us as the “foundation expert”, asking…

“What else do you have? I really am not getting results with this messy, expensive dehumidifier. My foundation is dry, walls are dry, floor is dry, so why does it still smell and feel like a basement?” 

We needed to find something better. Our company’s core values include offering world class customer service to every customer, every time.   So, we challenged our Research and Development department to find a real solution for our customers to combat not only the moisture, but also the odors, pollutants and unhealthy environment our customers were concerned about. We found, tested and installed a ventilation product for a period of three years. We private labeled that product as the EZ Breathe Ventilation System. The feedback in those first three years from our customers, as well as our installation crews, did not live up to the standard of quality to be included in our waterproofing process that offered a life time warranty. Once again, we needed something better.

We valued not only the results, but what we were learning from our customers. So, we went back to the drawing board, took matters into our own hands and made quality improvements to that first generation ventilation unit.

Our own EZ Breathe Ventilation System was born…reengineered, redesigned and much improved! We quickly learned that our crews were thrilled with the quality improvements, ease of operation and installation, but more importantly, our waterproofing customers loved the new, improved EZ Breathe unit as well.

Their feedback told us the air in their basements and crawlspaces felt better, but their entire home was benefiting from their EZ Breathe as well. We received countless letters thanking us because their whole house felt different, less odors, fresher air upstairs too, family members were feeling better, needing less allergy medicine, husbands were no longer snoring, children were no longer coughing as much, the home and it’s family were living healthier lives!

It was time for us to move beyond simply offering this innovative technology to just our waterproofing customers. Our passion and commitment to helping people improve their indoor air environments is what drove us to incorporate EZ Breathe Ventilation Systems as an independent company in 2003. We strongly believe that homeowners everywhere deserve a healthy indoor air quality.

We have spent the last 20 years dedicated to learning about the relationship between our home and our health; indoor air quality, the home as a system, building science and how it relates to indoor air quality as well as the challenges our modern day practices pose to the quality of air we breathe in our homes.