Humidity in the basement!!

[aqualab]

Be careful exhausting your air to the outside with a Fanaway type exhaust fan - you can cause a negative pressure effect in the basement which can cause back drafting. That is when the combustion gasses from your gas, oil or propane fueled furnace, hotwater heater and even your dryer through a chimney, vent or flue is in the opposite direction. Result is CO accumulating in the basement/house - which is poisonous and potentially fatal. Radon system or contaminated soil gas sub-slab mitigation system installers perform this back draft test to ensure that the new system is not causing this condition. Just something to be aware of.

 

[dascharisma]

If you use a fan to blow air out of a humid basement, and your make-up air is coming from outside, couldn't you actually make the basement more humid in the summer months?


Brad