I hope someone can help me with a problem that I am having.
I live in southwest Georgia. It is often humid in this area. My house is about 2000 sq.ft. and there is a crawl space under the house. The house was built during the late 70's. We have open vents around the perimeter of the crawl space and we also have a rather old plastic vapor barrier. I do not have a problem with water seeping into the crawl space as a result of flood or rain. I have a moisture problem presently under the house which appears to be due to a slow dripping water pipe. I will have this resolved next week. However, my HVAC repair person did tell me that he thought the insulation on the HVAC ductwork may need to be replaced because he had seen condensation on the outside of the ducts during this hot/wet summer we have been having.
My pest control company recommends that I install a new vapor barrier, encapsulate the crawl space, install a wireless humidity sensor and install a dehumidifier. The cost is about $2200, plus an annual $100 fee for maintenance of same.
I really have three (3) questions:
1. Since I believe that the main cause for the increased humidity in the crawl space to be the leaking water pipe, would it be just about as effective if I did everything BUT purchase/install the dehumidifier? I could use the wireless sensor to indicate if another leak problem occurs under the house.
2. I have read that encapsulating/dehumidifying the crawl space can save as much as 20% in your HVAC bill annually. That sounds very high to me ....... do you know or know of what others have experienced in savings after they have installed a dehumidification system under their house?
3. The pest control company indicated that I have some puddling of water under the house as a result of the water leak drip, outside of a bucket and a sponge .. is there an easy way to get rid of this puddling after I have the pipe repaired?
Thanks ever so much to anyone who can give me some good advice on this issue.
Jim Kempf
Leesburg, GA
I live in southwest Georgia. It is often humid in this area. My house is about 2000 sq.ft. and there is a crawl space under the house. The house was built during the late 70's. We have open vents around the perimeter of the crawl space and we also have a rather old plastic vapor barrier. I do not have a problem with water seeping into the crawl space as a result of flood or rain. I have a moisture problem presently under the house which appears to be due to a slow dripping water pipe. I will have this resolved next week. However, my HVAC repair person did tell me that he thought the insulation on the HVAC ductwork may need to be replaced because he had seen condensation on the outside of the ducts during this hot/wet summer we have been having.
My pest control company recommends that I install a new vapor barrier, encapsulate the crawl space, install a wireless humidity sensor and install a dehumidifier. The cost is about $2200, plus an annual $100 fee for maintenance of same.
I really have three (3) questions:
1. Since I believe that the main cause for the increased humidity in the crawl space to be the leaking water pipe, would it be just about as effective if I did everything BUT purchase/install the dehumidifier? I could use the wireless sensor to indicate if another leak problem occurs under the house.
2. I have read that encapsulating/dehumidifying the crawl space can save as much as 20% in your HVAC bill annually. That sounds very high to me ....... do you know or know of what others have experienced in savings after they have installed a dehumidification system under their house?
3. The pest control company indicated that I have some puddling of water under the house as a result of the water leak drip, outside of a bucket and a sponge .. is there an easy way to get rid of this puddling after I have the pipe repaired?
Thanks ever so much to anyone who can give me some good advice on this issue.
Jim Kempf
Leesburg, GA