Basement ventilation is a very important and useful engineering system. If the air flow is insufficient, then in the basements there will be increased humidity, which is fraught with the appearance of fungus, mold and other unpleasant consequences. Nobody really needs this.
In general, the basement ventilation scheme should be thought out at the design stage. During this period, you should determine the location of the system elements and the
diameter of the pipes. At the same time, the main rule in the design is that the air exchange per hour in a ventilated room should not be less than the volume of the room itself.
Basement ventilation in the house can be designed and executed by hand. There are no specific features in this process that would be difficult to figure out. But it’s better to have minimal knowledge. And the most important question in this case is the choice of type of ventilation. Natural or forced. The basic principles of their arrangement are similar, but there are some nuances.
Basement natural ventilation
The work of this technology is based on the temperature difference inside and outside the room, i.e. it works similarly to the chimney system in furnaces. For its arrangement, it is only necessary to lay two pipes:
- Supply . This pipe is laid so that one end is located at a height of 0.5 meters above the floor of the basement, and the other would pass through the ceiling and exit the wall of the building at a height of 1 meter.
- Exhaust . This pipe is equipped in the opposite corner of the basement. Its lower part should be located 1.5 meters above the basement floor, and the other end should be 0.5 meters above the building ridge.
In principle, there is nothing complicated in the independent arrangement of such ventilation. The larger the temperature difference, the higher the air flow will pass. But there is one important condition for good ventilation. This is the diameter of the pipes. If it is too small, the air stream will not be able to remove all moisture. To determine the required diameter, it is necessary to calculate the floor area. Typically, the diameter of the pipe is chosen based on the fact that 1 square meter of floor requires a pipe with a cross section of 26 square centimeters. For example, for a basement with a floor area of 8 square meters, a pipe with a diameter of 16 centimeters is required.
The natural ventilation of the cellars can be improved. To do this, create additional traction. It is easy to do. It is only necessary to lay the ventilation pipe next to the chimney.
Condensation may form on the pipes. To prevent this from happening, they should be insulated. For such purposes, any insulation is suitable. Most often, rolled heat-insulating materials are used. They wrap the pipe and put on a protective layer on top.
And the last one. On the pipes should be installed valves. This is necessary in order to control the air flow, as well as to be able to block the entire system for the winter period.
Forced ventilation of basements
If the natural draft does not cope with the assigned tasks, then to achieve the goals you can use the fans. Usually one is set to blow, the other to blow. At the same time, the diameter of the pipeline should not correspond to the proportion necessary for natural ventilation. Fans will be responsible for high-quality blowing. But this technique has a significant minus - such a system is volatile, that is, for the fans to work, electricity is required.