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For more information, see /radon and A Citizen’s Guide to Radon The Guide to Protecting Yourself and Your Family from Radon (December 2016, EPA 402/K12/002). Please explore our complete Radon FAQs to educate yourself about the what’s, why’s and how’s of radon remediation. Then learn why choosing the best local radon removal company is critical.
All homes should test for radon, regardless of geographic location; homes with elevated radon levels have been identified across the country. If you haven’t checked for radon in the past two years, or if you’ve done some remodeling since the last time you did, pick up an Accu-Star certified radon test from your local home center. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation.
Does radon gas rise?
There are several methods that can be used to reduce high radon levels. Use our interactive tool to help you decide whether you need to reduce your radon level and if so how. An electrical junction box is included in the attic to make the wiring and installation of a vent fan easier. For example, you decide to activate the passive system because your test result showed an elevated radon level (4 pCi/L or more).
If the radon levels become too high within a structure, it can pose serious health concerns. Approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year are caused by radon exposure, making radon second only to smoking for lung cancer deaths. If your levels come back high, you need to find a way to reduce them. Once set up, the mitigation system will remove air from the soil and send it outside the home. The radon mitigation professional you hire should also assess the foundation and seal any cracks or openings to further reduce the amount of radon gas that is able to enter the home.
Radon measurement pack
Environmental Protection Agency and the building industry with details on how to install radon-resistant techniques in your new home. Fix the home if the radon level is 4 picocuries per liter, or pCi/L, or higher. After installation, your ongoing costs will be relatively minimal. You’ll pay about $6 to $8 per month on your utility bill, and you will need to replace the fan after about 15 years. As with most home repairs, the cost of reducing radon in your home can vary widely, depending on how your home is built and what kind of system you need.
You can help reduce your risk of cancer by making healthy choices like eating right, staying active and not smoking. It’s also important to follow recommended screening guidelines, which can help detect certain cancers early. Radon gas is a radioactive gas that you cannot see, smell, or taste. It’s produced as a byproduct as certain radioactive elements decay. The most common type of radon has a half life of 3.8 days, which means half of the gas is left 3.8 days after it formed. Radon testing is easy and the only way to find out if you have a radon problem in your home.
What Is the Danger of Radon Gas?
There are no widely available medical tests to measure whether you have been exposed to radon. But if you think that you might have been, talk with your doctor about whether you should get regular health checkups and tests to look for possible signs of lung cancer. Possible symptoms include shortness of breath , a new or worsening cough, pain or tightness in the chest, hoarseness, or trouble swallowing. It is also possible for radon to enter your home through your water supply, though this poses a much lower risk than when it comes through the soil. If you have a private well, you can have it tested for radon. If the levels are high, you can have the water supply treated so that the radon is removed before it enters your home.
Walk through the system with the contractor to develop familiarity. After the contractor is finished making adjustments and installations, ask them to walk you through the system. Ask questions if you need clarification and write down any instructions or pertinent information the contractor provides. For information about installing an in-line fan, see Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon. The techniques described here also make your home more energy efficient and could provide you an average of $65 savings per year in your energy costs. For a new home, ask if radon-resistant construction features were used and if the home has been tested.
STEP 4: If you have a private well, test your water for radon.
This system, known as a soil depressurization system, does not require major changes to your home. Sealing foundation cracks and other openings makes this kind of system more effective and cost-efficient. Similar systems can also be installed in houses with crawl spaces. The right system depends on the design of your home and other factors like whether your home has a basement. Radon is a radioactive gas that is naturally released in the air from rocks and soil. It can be found in the air outside and can get inside buildings and homes, where it can build up.
After installing a radon reduction system, test your home again to make sure it is working and consider retesting your home every two years to be sure radon levels remain low. Simple, inexpensive techniques can be used to lower radon levels and increase energy efficiency in your new home. Upgrading is Easy If high levels of radon are found, a fan can easily be installed as part of the system for further radon reduction. These checks ought to be done periodically to make sure that the radon mitigation systems are operating perfectly and devoid of any technical glitches. This is done with the use of a manometer to ensure that the fan is functional and that the whole system is performing at an optimum level.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Sophia Latorre. Before joining wikiHow, Sophia worked as a technical editor and was published in six International Energy Agency Wind Annual Reports.
It is a tasteless, odorless, invisible gas that may leak into dwellings due to naturally decaying uranium in soil, rock, and water. And according to the EPA, it causes roughly 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year and is the second-highest cause of lung cancer after smoking. Radon kills more people in the United States than drunk driving, murders, or Parkinson’s disease. Wire in an extra circuit to the attic so that a vent fan can be installed to turn the pipe into a vacuum cleaner, or an active radon control system, which routes the gas out of your home.
This method rids of the radon by first confining all the dirt with the use of plastic membrane along the foundation walls. After this is done and accomplished, the venting system is then used to draw and direct the radon gas out to the outside air as the vent employed is thoroughly effective in doing this. There is no single and universally agreed-on way of removing radon from your home. It is quite difficult to DIY this endeavor hence the involvement of a professional is usually very vital.
However, long-term exposure to radon gas can lead to lung cancer. However, because radon isn’t safe at any level, they also suggest treating homes with radon levels between 2 and 4 pCi/L. According to the EPA, the average radon gas concentration in a home is about 1.3 pCi/L, which does not pose an appreciable risk to most residents living in the house.
In our climate, leaving windows open and fans running isn’t sustainable year-round, such as in winter, as well as hot, humid summers. Once your windows close, radon gas can be sucked into the structure again in a matter of hours. We understand the appeal of an easy fix to a problem like radon.
In a small number of homes, the building materials can give off radon, too. However, building materials rarely cause radon problems by themselves. It’s impossible to determine how much radon a new home will attract.
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