Radon Mitigation

[rd_macgregor]

I wonder if a wind-powered turbine vent would do well enough (at some locations, anyway), rather than have a powered fan going all the time?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Whether you need an exhaust fan or not, depends on how much radon you have...

Last house I was involved in, HAD to have a fan to meet code... and that was in up state NY.

SR

 

[WoodChuckDad]

As has been said, you don't want two pipes. The principal behind Radon mitigation is putting the sub-slab area under a negative pressure (ie. vacuum). If you have an inlet pipe, you will A) not be allowing the sub-slab to depressurize; and B) creating a loop that most likely will not communicate with all areas under the floor/membrane.

Also, make sure the radon fan is mounted outdoors. That way, if its discharge pipe is ever accidentally disconnected you won't be filling your house with radiation.

I went with one pipe because that is the prevailing method. But I question the negative pressure concept of one pipe and no inlet for air. Mostly because of experience with a wood shop and saw dust collection. When you collect dust from a closed saw table you get the most effective dust collection by having a vacuum pipe attached and an inlet for air. Air flow makes the system much more effective. You still maintain a negative pressure environment but you have air movement which makes the system work much better.

 

[ADSNY]

I went with one pipe because that is the prevailing method. But I question the negative pressure concept of one pipe and no inlet for air. Mostly because of experience with a wood shop and saw dust collection. When you collect dust from a closed saw table you get the most effective dust collection by having a vacuum pipe attached and an inlet for air. Air flow makes the system much more effective. You still maintain a negative pressure environment but you have air movement which makes the system work much better.

Difference is, with a shop vacuum setup, you know the pathway of the contaminants you want to remove. Under a slab, you have no idea and may be bypassing the source of the radon by giving the air a path-of-least-resistance to follow.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I went with one pipe because that is the prevailing method. But I question the negative pressure concept of one pipe and no inlet for air. Mostly because of experience with a wood shop and saw dust collection. When you collect dust from a closed saw table you get the most effective dust collection by having a vacuum pipe attached and an inlet for air. Air flow makes the system much more effective. You still maintain a negative pressure environment but you have air movement which makes the system work much better.

SO, you think it's the same, to pull sawdust through a solid floor/metal cabinet, as it is to pull a gas through porous dirt??

No comparison at all...

SR