What Is the Stack Effect and How Does It Affect Me?

Air acts as a carrier of mold and moisture and when it moves through your home it could be affecting your family’s health as well as your home’s structural integrity. You might be wondering how that can be...well the phenomenon is known as the stack effect. 

What is the stack effect? 

Well, the stack effect is a process in which hot air enters your home through the lower levels like your crawl space or basement and travels up through the home to your attic. As this happens, a vacuum is created which pulls new air into the lower level and up through the home.  

Moisture is always present in the lower levels of your home, in the form of humidity, even if there are no water issues. Humidity is caused when there is a change in temperature. Since the area under our homes is naturally cooled by the ground, warm air that enters your home on a day that is 80°F outside is cooled down. Lowering the temperature causes the relative humidity to increase which means the air can hold more water. This matters because this is not a good thing for your home because mold thrives on moisture. Mold that is not found and treated will grow which can turn to rot, but it also spreads more spores that are released in the air and then carried through your home.  

While you did not know what was happening you might have been experiencing a runny nose, watery eyes, headaches, or scratchy throats which are caused by the air traveling through your home. Mold traveling in the air can also destroy the wood in your home and can cause structural damage.   

If you want to control mold and health issues, you first must control the humidity in your crawl space or basement. Not sure where to start? Give us a call or click here for a free inspection and we can explain how to keep your home dry and healthy for years to come!