Basement Waterproofing - The Stack Effect

The Stack Effect

Warm air rises so that air eventually actually escapes through your main floor. This is called the Stack Effect.

During winter, that cold crawl space air flows through the main floor of your home. As a result, your home now must overcompensate for all that cold, often damp air coming from your crawl space and essentially must work double-time to keep your house and floors warm.

I’m sure you can imagine the strain on your heater…and impact on your heating bills! If the air coming through is also damp, it takes even MORE energy to warm.

As we mentioned, when cold air enters your vented dirt crawl space, the original intent was that it would cross-ventilate and exit through the vents as well. But it doesn’t. It lingers, and that air is also damp from ground or wall moisture, it can cause additional problems like mold spore growth, wall discoloration, and critter infestation.

Regardless, that cold and often damp, musty or moldy air eventually escapes upwards through the main floor of your home.

This then increases your energy bills by as much as 30% annually.