Types and advantages of heated crawl space?
Chris Ison| Posted inEnergy Efficiency and Durabilityon
I’m having a small lake cabin built in northern Wisconsin, with a crawl space with slab floor. I’m told many newer cabins there have heated floors in their crawl spaces. Can you tell me, or point me to articles explaining, the various options for heating a crawl space floor and the advantages/disadvantages of doing so? We would like to spend several weeks and weekends there every winter, but will use it mostly in the summer. Thanks!
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Replies
Chris,
It makes sense to insulate the walls of a crawl space and seal it up, but I have never heard of anyone installing a radiant slab in a crawl space. That sounds like a big waste of money.
Here in Vermont, some homeowners, driven by desperation, install space heaters in their crawl spaces in an attempt to keep their pipes from freezing. Such a wasteful and desperate approach, however, wouldn't be necessary in a new house. It's only necessary in a 150-year-old farmhouse with leaky stone walls and dirt-floored crawl spaces where it's impossible to keep out the winter winds.
Martin,
Your comment about space heaters in crawl spaces reminds me of a neighbor who several years ago burned his own house to the ground when he put a salamander type heater in his crawl space for that exact reason. Get this, HE IS A BUILDER!