Radon gas mitigation in our home.

[Susquatch]

I will. buying my own meter today, in fact.

Please let us know what you bought and how you like it after receipt. Your review is worth a thousand reviews from Joe Public!

 

[StevSmar]

I heard back from AirThings, their Wave Plus sensor can store 80 days of data onboard. That’s pretty good as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Susquatch]

I heard back from AirThings, their Wave Plus sensor can store 80 days of data onboard. That’s pretty good as far as I’m concerned.

CI agree. Can you then download it for analysis and then clear it?

 

[StevSmar]

CI agree. Can you then download it for analysis and then clear it?

I’m pretty sure that as soon as you sync, the data is marked as “can be overwritten” (That’s the way I would do it…)

I loaded the app on my phone (we’re at the cottage) and all the data was available. So that tells me the data is uploaded to the cloud.

That’s an interesting question about can you download and clear the data, I’ll ask that question.

 

[StevSmar]

CI agree. Can you then download it for analysis and then clear it?

Yes, you can download the data to Excel CSV format and delete it from online.

 

[StevSmar]

I thought I’d post an update on how my AirThings Air Quality detector is working.

After a couple of months of use, this is Radon:


It shows that our CO2 level is higher than recommended, we need to ventilate more:

(You can see when we were on holidays at the cottage, the low area in the middle of the trend.)

 

[Susquatch]

I thought I’d post an update on how my AirThings Air Quality detector is working.

Great Stuff @StevSmar . Glad you posted this update. I've been thinking about your evaluation from time-to-time.

Just wondering, did you ever do a calibration against the pro equipment?

 

[StevSmar]

Just wondering, did you ever do a calibration against the pro equipment?

No, since I’m using the AirThings sensor only to keep an eye on whether the Radon Fan is still doing it’s job.

 

[Tom O]

I hear on the news that rural homes with wells have 30% more Radon released and they are concerned about the Cancer risk. My question is these heat pump systems that are the new planet savers. they drill down a 100 feet or so, wouldn’t that create the same problem?

 

[Johnwa]

I hear on the news that rural homes with wells have 30% more Radon released and they are concerned about the Cancer risk. My question is these heat pump systems that are the new planet savers. they drill down a 100 feet or so, wouldn’t that create the same problem?

Good point Tom. I’ve passed your concern on to Dr. Goodarzi

 

[Ironman]

I hear on the news that rural homes with wells have 30% more Radon released and they are concerned about the Cancer risk. My question is these heat pump systems that are the new planet savers. they drill down a 100 feet or so, wouldn’t that create the same problem?

Yes. It will. But virtue signalling is it's own reward
Wells will emit natural gas, nitrogen CO and radon, plus other gasses like h2s, but you will smell that one. I recently replaced a well foot valve and you could hear the gas bubbling in the well.
My well is outside the house, and has a pitless adapter so no shack to accumulate gasses as well. I have sarcoidosis in the lungs and I'm glad not to have to worry about radon. The house is on screwpiles and is ventilated under the floor.
Thanks John, for bringing more awareness to this.

 

[slow-poke]

Very interesting thread. We tested a couple of years ago during the winter, levels were very close to 100 Bq/m3. We have an unsealed sump with water. We're now considering venting to get it lower.

 

[Upnorth]

I didn't read the whole thread but have a comment.

I live about 1 km from an area that on a map is described as extreme radon risk. It's an exposed rock ledge. It's well under the ground where my house is. When I had my house built about 10 years ago it was mandatory that I put in pipes to collect radon gas if needed in the future. They come above the slab in 2 places. No requirement to test for radon though. Also no requirement for me to test my well water when the house was built. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to test both.

 

[Doggggboy]

My house has no basement so I believe we are at low risk for radon exposure here but we are in Saskatchewan so I just ordered an Air Things detector. The office where my wife used to work in Regina had offices in the basement and at last count I think 4 or 5 of the 25 or 30 employees' had died of cancer.

 

[StevSmar]

at last count I think 4 or 5 of the 25 or 30 employees' had died of cancer.

That does seem quite shocking. Was it lung cancer or other types?

I believe the biggest risk factor for most cancers remains age.

I’ll repeat what I’ve said in this thread. Winnipeg is a hot bed for Radon. There is no corresponding huge increase in lung cancers that I’m aware of. From this I draw the conclusion that although Radon is a risk factor, it’s not a significant one. Just because your house has high Radon levels doesn’t guarantee you’ll get lung cancer, it just increases the risk when there are likely many many other factors that also come into play.

We had levels of Radon in our house where Health Canada suggested some form of mitigation. With a Radon Fan, levels are now around twice (or three times?) what ambient is, whereas before I installed a fan they were about 20 times higher.
(This is getting to be 10 to 15 years ago now, so my memory of exact numbers is getting dim).

Installing the sub-slab depressurization fan was an easy thing to do, and it had other benefits like decreased basement humidity. So I think it is a no-brainer to install a fan if needed, plus it required zero lifestyle changes. Not like some other risks such as driving a vehicle and breathing in exhaust.

Life has risks, mitigate the easy ones, minimize the ones you can. Don’t live too long since that decreases your risk of Cancer significantly…
(It’s not my intent to sound uncaringly flippant, I am trying to provide perspective. I panicked when we found high levels of Radon in our house. Risks are everywhere and can really stop you from enjoying life though)

 

[combustable herbage]

Out neighbors alerted of us high levels of radon were discovered when they were putting a bedroom in the basement, so I bought a meter off of amazon and sure enough our levels were very high >800 so I got a window open and got the air moving around better brought it down some but not enough, as I began to work on it the weather improved and the levels plummeted so I was able to work on it during the summer, in the end I put a vacuum vent at the sump which works well and also I had to seal all my water lines into the house as none of them were ever done so I believe that was a large source of radon coming in. I am monitoring it now so far levels are averaging under 100 with this being a peak time from what I have read. Thanks to @John Conroy for starting this thread it was very helpful in my journey.

 

[DPittman]

(This is getting to be 10 to 15 years ago now, so my memory of exact numbers is getting dim).

I think I read somewhere that radon affects memory. I'm not sure maybe that was something else, I forget for sure.

 

[Doggggboy]

I've had the Air Things detector for a month now. Both short and long term levels are under 100 Bq/m³.
It rises a little if I shut off the air exchanger but we generally let it run all the time.
Health Canada says anything under 200 Bq/m³ doesn't need to be mitigated unless you really want to or can do it easily.
I guess something else will have to kill me.......
And I finally learned how to type an exponent..³
(it's always the little things)

 

[Dabbler]

Health Canada says anything under 200 Bq/m³ doesn't need to be mitigated

The new Health Canada proposal is 100 Bq/m³ aligning Canada with Norway and other European states.

 

[Doggggboy]

The new Health Canada proposal is 100 Bq/m³ aligning Canada with Norway and other European states.

Shhhhh, you.
Don't tell my wife.
The honey do list is plenty long already.