What is Radon Gas?
It is a fragrance-free and flavorless gas normally emitted from uranium that decays in the soil within your house. This gas will, in the end, enter your home via any openings in your foundation. In order to know whether there are any levels elevating inside your house, you have to do a radon test. If you notice that your radon gas level is very high, you have to install the Radon Reduction System because if you inhale a lot of the gas you may end up having lung cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set the minimum level of radon not more than 2 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). The systems will help you reduce up to 99 percent of radon gas levels within your house and the system is not that expensive depending on the layout and also the size of your house.
To Remove Radon Gas
- Radon testing kits
- Sealing and Ventilation
- An energy recovery ventilator (ERV)
- Depressurization
- Pressurization
- Drill
- Suction pipes
- Hire a professional radon mitigation professional
How to Remove Radon Gas
- First of all, you need to have a Radon detecting device that you can purchase at your local hardware store so that you will know exactly how much radon gas levels for your home.
- You should also increase the air ventilation within your house in order to reduce the radon levels inside your home
- Always remember to determine which type of air ventilation to use. If you use a blower, it has its own drawback where its exhausting heat or even cooled air from your house will definitely increase the energy expense.
- It is recommended that you use an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which is designed to ventilate all sections of your house and the ERVs are most effective when used in your basement level for reducing the radon levels.
- Apart from that, the ERVs would also be able to improve and clean other indoor pollutants to provide a good air quality.
- Always remember to determine which type of air ventilation to use. If you use a blower, it has its own drawback where its exhausting heat or even cooled air from your house will definitely increase the energy expense.
- Then, you can apply the depressurization and associated techniques where you will be able to remove the air from certain area beneath your house slab, basement as well as any other crawlspace.
- By doing this, you can exhaust the mentioned area and if there is any accumulated radon gas within the area, it will be dispersed and removed accordingly.
- By doing this, you can exhaust the mentioned area and if there is any accumulated radon gas within the area, it will be dispersed and removed accordingly.
Based on scientists report, up to 22,000 deaths each year due to lung cancer disease are related to radon
- The next step is for you to seal any cracks or other openings that you find in your house foundation.
- By doing this, you would be able to reduce the radon gas flow and also help other reduction techniques to work effectively and cost-efficient.
- This sealing method also helps to reduce the heat and air conditioned loss.
- By doing this, you would be able to reduce the radon gas flow and also help other reduction techniques to work effectively and cost-efficient.
- You can also use the pressurization method where you can install a fan at a certain area to blow air into your basement as well as living room from inside the house or from outdoors.
- This method will create enough pressure at your lowest level indoors like the basement in order to prevent radon from making an entrance into your house. Whether the method will work effectively or not depends on your house construction, climate, the appliances used in the house and also the lifestyle of you and your family.
- You must also make sure that all the doors and windows at your lowest level are not left opened except the one that you use for entrance or exit. This is to ensure that you manage to maintain enough pressure for keeping the radon from coming into the house.
- This method will create enough pressure at your lowest level indoors like the basement in order to prevent radon from making an entrance into your house. Whether the method will work effectively or not depends on your house construction, climate, the appliances used in the house and also the lifestyle of you and your family.
Bear in mind that once you use the Pressurization method, you will have to deal with more outdoor air coming into your home, which can cause moisture invasion and energy penalties.
- Another method that you can consider to use for removing radon gas.
- Make use of the natural ventilation that occurs within your house. This can be done by opening your windows, doors or vents at the lower floors for increasing the ventilation in your house thus resulting in the mixes of outdoor air and indoor air that contains radon. Therefore, you would be able to reduce the radon gas levels, but once you close all the windows, doors and vents, the radon concentrations will somehow return back after a 12-hour period.
- Using natural ventilation is only a temporary solution and it also have disadvantages such as you will encounter the loss of conditioned air, feeling of discomfort, the increment of outside air and in terms of security, it is not very good for you and your family safety.
- Make use of the natural ventilation that occurs within your house. This can be done by opening your windows, doors or vents at the lower floors for increasing the ventilation in your house thus resulting in the mixes of outdoor air and indoor air that contains radon. Therefore, you would be able to reduce the radon gas levels, but once you close all the windows, doors and vents, the radon concentrations will somehow return back after a 12-hour period.
Always remember that once you have done and tried all the of the above, you need to
- Hire a certified radon tester so that you can retest the radon gas level within your house in order to ensure that its level is below than 4
picocuries per liter (pCi/L).
Image Credit:
Flickr CC