Basement & Crawl Space Dehumidifier and Air Filtration in Interior BC
Relative humidity (RH) 
levels can get pretty high, especially in the summer. This leads to damp, musty smells in your basement or crawlspace, and in many cases leads to the growth and spread of mold! Island & Interior Basement Systems can help with the SaniDry dehumidifier and air filtration machine.
Basements and crawlspaces can become damp, even in cases where a basement waterproofing system has been installed. This is due to water vapor in the air and its condensation onto the cool surfaces in your basement or crawlspace.
- A block wall may not leak, but it feels damp because it's wicking (sometimes called capillary action) the water inside it to the surface like a sponge.
- Water vapor can come through your walls and floor (especially if it's a dirt crawlspace floor) because concrete is porous and water vapor passes easily through it. Interior Basement Systems offers three different basement wall systems, a basement floor matting system, and a crawlspace liner system to address this issue. Once installed, BC homeowners don't have to worry about wicking and have significantly slowed water vapor transmission considerably.
- Exterior air leaks bring moisture into your basement in the form of humidity. This is not a problem as long as the outside air is cooler than the basement or crawlspace. It's the warmer summertime air that moves lots of water into the basement or crawlspace. On Vancouver Island and Interior BC (especially in Victoria, Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Comox Valley, Campbell River, Whistler, Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton, Kamloops, and surrounding areas), high relative humidity is a big cause of dampness and moisture in the summer months.
When outside air is warmer than inside air – especially when it's humid outside air – we are likely to have a condensation problem in our subterranean levels. This is because the RH of air goes up 2.2% for every one-degree it is cooled. Basements are always cool because they are below ground. And we know that a house is like a chimney – air flows upwards, escaping out of the upper levels and being replaced by new air sucked in at the lower levels.
So when it's hot and humid in the summer, rain or not, our basement may be the wettest it has been all year!
If it's an 80-degree day with RH of 80%, and we suck this air into our basements and cool it to 68 degrees, the relative humidity goes up by 26.4% (12 degrees x 2.2%). But 80% plus 26.4% is more than 100%, and we can't have more than 100%. So instead, as the air saturates it gives up its moisture on your cold basement walls, floor, water tank, pipes, and other cold things. This is called condensation. Relative humidity can easily reach 100% in a basement in Interior BC – or crawl space in Interior BC – in the summer.
Even without condensation, we still have high relative humidity levels that allows mold to grow. Dust mites also love high relative humidity levels as well. In order to eliminate condensation we need to either heat the air (ridiculous in summer), or take water out of it (easy to do). Correction. We should say take water out of it efficiently and effectively (not so easy unless you have the right equipment with which to do it).
Not Just Any Dehumidifier
A dehumidifier is the simple answer. But most dehumidifiers are neither efficient or effective. Basement Systems has dealt with this issue for nearly 20 years, and the only machine that we've found that will get the intended results is one called a SaniDry Basement and Crawl Space Air System. And it's awesome.
The SaniDry is only available through authorized Basement Systems dealers, so homeowners in Interior BC (including Victoria, Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Comox Valley, Campbell River, Whistler, Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton, Kamloops, and surrounding areas) should call Island & Interior Basement Systems today for a Free Consultation on the benefits of the SaniDry dehumidifier.
To receive a FREE copy of "Dry Basement Science" or "Crawl Space Science" that talk in more detail about dehumidification, relative humidity, and the SaniDry Basement and Crawl Space Air System, schedule your FREE home inspection and estimate, and we'll send the book to you for free. Schedule Now!
Read more about the SaniDry Basement Dehumidifier at the Basement Systems' SaniDry page.