Colorado Radon Madness Abated
by erik
(lakewood, Colorado, US)
Reading on my Pro series 3 after install
Radon Fan in garage
Entry from basement into garage
Exit from garage into attic then out threw roof. 30 in. from roof peak
When I purchased my home I had two types of testing. A professional had come in with a big boxed system and left it in the basement for 48hrs. It showed a range from 16-60 pCi/L! I was alarmed but I liked the home so well, I decided to purchase and fix this later. So after I moved in and tested it with a kit you can purchase from a local hardware store and send in, I found an average of 16pCi/L.
Three years later I retested it with a
"Safety Siren Pro Series 3" (good valued item) electronic sensor. It plugs in and has a short term and long term settings.
The results were 6-8pCi/L in various areas of my 1964 ranch in the mostly finished basement.
My brother is a Home Energy Auditor and tested my home and found it to be very air tight.
I used the info from a popular book borrowed from my local library and used the info from this web site to learn how to save myself a few hundred dollars to do this myself. My install quotes were all around $1100.oo. I installed my system for around $400.oo! But it took some research and two days to do complete.
Keep in mind that the system only works as good as the weakest link and it's often overlooked to seal your basement or
crawl space well for full affect.
The system in one week brought the average down from 16 to 6pC/L. But now after two months it's averaging around 2.2pC/L. Now I can rest more easy at night knowing that it's not as bad.
Although I dug a huge hole for the pipe (10-12gallons of dirt) the soil was wet and full of rocks. So I figured I would have a better result. But our Colorado soil is clay and it's a challenge unless you have another siphon point in the ground.
I set up the system to accommodate a second suction point if I have the means to do this later for better results.
P.S. Keep also in mind that this system should be on at all times. Place your piping and fan accordingly so that you don't have the sound distraction near rooms that need to be quiet. (as I had planned for this as well)
Thanks and be healthy.
