# Help. In A Quandry



## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

My Honey-Do List today has an item I'm resisting on.

She wants me to measure all the vents under the house for covers. She thinks covering them will reduce the power bill this winter... We do have really good insulation in this house...

In the past, as a contractor, I had been hired to replace subfloors, floor joists and floors rotted out from dampness and inadequate venting. So with this past in-hand personal experience, I don't think this is a good idea. I've told her this, but she still has this in her head. 

Anyone with any thoughts on this?


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## jack3140 (Aug 24, 2012)

MAFoElffen said:


> My Honey-Do List today has an item I'm resisting on.
> 
> She wants me to measure all the vents under the house for covers. She thinks covering them will reduce the power bill this winter... We do have really good insulation in this house...
> 
> ...


dont do it it is of the utmost importance that the sub space be well ventilated else you will end up with mildew problems and belive it you dont want that and furthermore it will increase your heating bill since the subfloor insulation will become damp and lose it,s insulating qualities i hope this answers your question good luck. regards jack


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Ditto to Jack's comments! Are you referring to a crawl space, Mike?
If anything you could increase the depth of insulation in the joist spaces; far more bang for your effort than closing off the ventilation...
Just show her the Building Code. That always (usually?) settles an argument


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

In our climate we have to seal the crawl space for winter but I open it up again in the spring when it warms up. Even with the space sealed and my water lines wrapped with insulation I've still had my water freeze up.The best policy is to insulate the skirting and heat the space with some ventilation to move air around but that isn't always possible. If your floors are warm and your water never freezes up then you probably don't need to worry about it. There are other ways to save energy such as window insulating films and making sure the weatherstripping around doors and windows are in good shape. Good heavy curtains on windows helps too.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Ditto to Jack's comments! Are you referring to a crawl space, Mike?
> If anything you could increase the depth of insulation in the joist spaces; far more bang for your effort than closing off the ventilation...
> Just show her the Building Code. That always (usually?) settles an argument


Dan-

Yes, referring to a crawl space. 12" thick of insulation already in the floor joists (bottom of subfloor to bottom of joists, 2 6" layers). 6" of insulation in the outside walls. 12" of insulation in the attic crawlspace (6" layer and 6" blown).

More insulation down under? Really? LOL. I would have to add a framework below the joists to suspend it from...


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Mikey - Please inform Sharon that it is not a good idea. More than likely, your vents are an 8" tall x 16" length. Most can be closed from the outside. Your insulation needs to stay dry and closing it off solves [temporarily] one problem, but brings several new problems with it. I've seen under homes where this (vent closing) had been done and it starts a chain reaction of problems in most cases. Buy her some thicker socks or some bedroom slippers, and have a very nice day, week, winter!


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## Ben I (May 21, 2010)

As you know closing up your vents is not such a good idea for the reasons given by other forum members. However none of them have mentioned the topic of Radon Gas. If you live in hilly rocky country Radon Gas is much more common that people think.

I would advise you to do a little internet search on Radon Gas Hazards and more importantly Radon Gas Home foundation ventilation recommendations. Share this information with your wife. This is not meant to alarm you or your lady. But closing vents is going in the wrong direction.

While I'm on my soap box about Radon, If you haven't already done so, get a Radon test kit. There inexpensive and a very wise precaution.

Ben


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

I will 2nd Charles post, In Colorado it gets very cold in the winter time and it's good to seal up the crawl space and open it back up in the spring time...most of the homes in Colorado do not have insulation under the floors in the crawl space they do it that way to keep the pipes warm in the winter..

==



Cherryville Chuck said:


> In our climate we have to seal the crawl space for winter but I open it up again in the spring when it warms up. Even with the space sealed and my water lines wrapped with insulation I've still had my water freeze up.The best policy is to insulate the skirting and heat the space with some ventilation to move air around but that isn't always possible. If your floors are warm and your water never freezes up then you probably don't need to worry about it. There are other ways to save energy such as window insulating films and making sure the weatherstripping around doors and windows are in good shape. Good heavy curtains on windows helps too.


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

My wife believes me when I tell her that something is not a good idea, and give her the reason(s) why. I'm confident your other half trusts you enough to understand that you have good reasons for why it is not a good idea.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Geez, 12" ?! Mygawd, Otis is bang on, warmer socks and slippers. You could also explain (again?) how thermostats work...


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Geez, 12" ?! Mygawd, Otis is bang on, warmer socks and slippers. You could also explain (again?) how thermostats work...


Like I said, well insulated.

Sharon is a bit cold blooded. We keep the house about 58-60 degrees in the winter. That way in is not as much a shock going outside. We do have a good mattress heater for sleeping. ...And the cats want to snuggle to keep warm.

Before we bought the house, the selling point to us was the wood stove. It was a bank repo... and the previous owners absconded with the wood stove before closing. After we moved in, too much furniture to put one back in. 5 kadet heaters in walls throughout the house.

I really don't notice the cold much. No, when Sharon really wants to heat up, she feeds me more for dinner. My metabolism cranks up and my temp heats up like an oven trying to burn it off.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

60F? * 60F*! My wife would divorce me if I kept the therm. down that low. :0

Try putting it up to 65F for starters, with a programmable thermostat. (60 at night.)
Also, as a wood aficionado, you know that low humidity during the Winter is a killer for fine furniture and artwork. The fact that it's been raining pretty much everyday for the last three weeks probably isn't having a lot of influence on the relative humidity indoors, _and_ the temp is supposed to drop a lot this coming weekend. If the hum. is higher, the body accepts lower temperatures as comfortable. 
Closing off the vents _isn't_ going to make the house feel more comfortable if the temps only 60F. *Brrrrr*


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

I know that your problem would not be an issue here in Sydney, but I would not cover any vents. The sub-floor area needs all the ventilation it can get otherwise damp, mold and rot come to the party..


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## beemor (Feb 29, 2012)

If your crawl space has a dirt floor like mine did, cover the dirt with vapor barrier plastic and seal it to the walls. A drier space will feel warmer too.


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## Neil Tsubota (Mar 20, 2010)

*How to convice the wife*

I think that everyone is missing the question here.

The answers are all directed toward the house. They should be directed toward the wife. "What would make you feel warmer?" "What is SAFE for our home and family?" (Do you know how many people are killed by Carbon Monoxide each year ?) is the state of _________.

Since I have all of this beautiful scrap wood, why don't we get a wood burning fireplace ?

When you get out of the shower a cold bathroom is not fun. Lets see if I can get a "towel warmer" for you. I think it can be found at BBBeyond, or maybe even HD.

How about tearing up the floor and install an electric radiant heater for the bathroom area 'next' winter. This is a BIG project honey.

I am sure we can help with other suggestions for HER !


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

MAFoElffen said:


> Like I said, well insulated.
> 
> Sharon is a bit cold blooded. We keep the house about 58-60 degrees in the winter. That way in is not as much a shock going outside. We do have a good mattress heater for sleeping. ...And the cats want to snuggle to keep warm.
> 
> ...


My wife is also like that. But her reasons are hopefully different from your wife's; she gets heat induced migraine headaches. I would not wish those on anyone. We have to keep the temps down in the summer too. In the winter, we keep ours at 61. In the summer we have it at 68.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

MAFoElffen said:


> My Honey-Do List today has an item I'm resisting on.
> 
> She wants me to measure all the vents under the house for covers. She thinks covering them will reduce the power bill this winter... We do have really good insulation in this house...
> 
> ...


temperature self closing vents...
it'll be a trade off but what do you do about radon gas build up???


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> temperature self closing vents...
> it'll be a trade off but what do you do about radon gas build up???


Thank you. Because of your post, I just checked into them. Found the info, but no pricing with that. Might be something for me to check into for the summer project list.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

MAFoElffen said:


> Thank you. Because of your post, I just checked into them. Found the info, but no pricing with that. Might be something for me to check into for the summer project list.


Lowes carries them...


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## jholly (Nov 18, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> temperature self closing vents...
> it'll be a trade off but what do you do about *radon gas build up???*


My thoughts exactly. Houses with basements have venting in the foundation to vent the radon gas. Seems that bottling up the radioactive radon gas is not the best of ideas. I guess if it was a proven why to solve the heat loss through the floor with no side effect they would build houses with out the vents. If your worried about heat loss through the floors, insulate the floors but leave the vents open. Also don't use insulation with a vapor barrier, that could be a real nightmare.


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