Could anyone give me insight to the advantages/disadvantages to conditioning the crawl space and any requirements that would have to be met
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Where do you live? Any unusual ground moisture issues? How old is the how? How deep is the crawl space? Is there any significant mold on your roof sheathing in the attic? Any flooding in the crawl?
Edited 10/20/2002 7:33:03 PM ET by Bob Walker
I live in Kentucky, This would be new construction. I am retiring from the military and have started doing residential construction for my second career ( I know but I love to build). We use Insulated Concrete forms for all exterior walls, so the footer is insulated from the start, but as the code sits now (as I read it) we still have to put vents in it unless its fully conditioned. What I was thinking is, if the home was a single story the air ducts could be run under it in the conditioned environment and thus would be more energy efficient.
Thanks for the input.
The main disadvantage is that you are heating a volume of air that does not need heating, therefore a waste of energy and money. Typically in the northeast the crawl space has vents installed per code and the ducts are insulated. (Or at least should be insulated). Make sure you waterproof any foundation walls below grade and above slab to prevent moisture from coming in. Install batt insualtion with a vapor barrier over between the joists.