MEASUREMENTS IN EIGHT "RADON-RESISTANT" NEW HOUSES
C. V. Weiffenbach · 2003
We have logged continuous radon, differential air pressures and other characteristics for eight houses built with radon-resistant features by Habitat for Humanity of Dane County. Pressures logged in the bases of the passive stacks were predominantly below basement air pressure, varying with time, while pressures in the sealed sump pits were above basement air pressure. Wind speed, wind direction and outdoor temperature affected the depressurization in the stack bases. With the stacks closed, the pressures in their bases increased to about 2 Pascals above basement air, and indoor radon increased by factors of 1.3 to 8 among the houses. In some houses, when appliance fans withdrawing air from the house envelope were operated, they pulled the basement air pressure below the pressure in the base of the stack, and bursts of indoor radon resulted. Basement radon