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2024-02-20 Building Scientist
The "Stack Effect": How Your Crawlspace Affects Upstairs Air Quality
Understand the physics of how air moves through your home and why a dirty crawlspace means dirty air in your bedroom.
What is the Stack Effect?
The stack effect is a phenomenon where warm air rises and escapes through the top of your home, creating a vacuum that pulls air in from the bottom. In most cases, that bottom air is coming directly from your crawlspace.
Why It Matters
If your crawlspace is damp, moldy, or filled with rodent droppings, those contaminants are being pulled into your living areas. Studies show that up to 50% of the air on the first floor of a home originated in the crawlspace.
How Encapsulation Helps
By sealing the crawlspace, we break the cycle. Instead of pulling in moist, contaminated air from the earth, your home pulls in cleaner, conditioned air.