Encapsulated Crawl Spaces: Energy Efficiency from the Bottom Up in Ohio

How does an 18% increase on your home’s energy efficiency sound to you? What if you could, with a single home improvement, curb energy loss, protect your home from moisture-related structural damage, and improve the indoor air quality?

These are some of the many benefits of having an encapsulated crawl space:

Crawl space vents, which were once required by many building codes, (and unfortunately still are in some areas of the country) were proven to be a true building science fallacy.

Reputable independent organizations such as Advanced Energy and Habitat for Humanity, conducted hundreds of studies on the matter and they were all conclusive. Crawl space vents don’t work.

But it is more serious than that. Crawl space vents actually create a myriad of problems, rather than solve anything.

During hot and humid summer days, the outside air that enters the crawl space through the vents, carries in moisture.

Because the temperature in crawl spaces is usually lower than the outside, when the air cools down, the relative humidity levels in the air go up, and eventually, the moisture begins to condense over ever surface in the crawl space.

The wooden structures and the fiberglass insulation will soak up moisture, grow mold and rot. Wooden floor and subfloors will warp.

If you have air ducts running through the crawl space, up to half of what you are paying to cool and heat your home, is probably being wasted because of condensation, temperature differences and even leaks.

In addition, because of a physics phenomena known as the “stack effect”, the air from the crawl space is consistently being sucked into the upper levels, carrying the mold, the dust mites and the moisture into your home. During winter, cold floors and cold drafts make your home very uncomfortable and your heating bill much higher.

Crawl Space Encapsulation will turn your moldy, damp crawl space into a dry and healthy place, suitable for storage, and curb energy losses and moisture relate problems.

The benefits of crawl space encapsulation are so significant that it is now recommended as Best Practice by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Initiative.

Ohio Basement Systems is proud to be one of the pioneers in the crawl space encapsulation industry, installing the patented and exclusive CrawlSeal System in Cleveland, Akron, Lorain, Warren and all the Northern Ohio area.

Contact us today and see how an encapsulated crawl space can protect your home, your family and your investment.