Ventilation in a crawl space

[jimtheengineer10]

Some replies in my other post got me thinking about ventilation in a crawl space and freezing issues. By code you are supposed to have ventilation in a crawl space. How do you prevent the plumbing from freezing if there are vents in the crawl space? Are the vents just closed/blocked off during the winter?

 

[jayrod12]

Heated and vented is common in areas where freezing is a concern.

 

[msquared48]

Usually not a problem. The latent heat in the ground below the structure should be enough to prevent freezing. It ts a pretty big heat sink.

Plus you have the contribution in the heat from the structure above, if it is heated.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[theonlynamenottaken]

"codes allow unventilated crawlspaces under these conditions: when there is a continuous ground cover, perimeter walls are insulated, and the crawlspace is conditioned."

From Lstiburek's US Dept of Energy white paper:
Unvented Crawlspaces Code Adoption

 

[ornerynorsk]

Heat tapes are very common in colder climates.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[OldBldgGuy]

jayrod12 (Structural)31 Mar 16 02:30
Heated and vented is common in areas where freezing is a concern.

I think you meant heated and UNVENTED. That is the only way I will do crawlspaces. Cold floors are impossible to live with and insulated floors over cold spaces are always cold. Treat the crawlspace like a basement & everything is better: no moisture problems, no deteriorating joists, no freezing plumbing, easy to run HVAC in a conditioned space, the floor is warm. etc. etc.

 

[jayrod12]

By vented I mean exhausted. Around here even the crawlspace gets the hrv treatment.