The prevalence of Radon Gas in the soils in areas around the United States is an issue of growing concern. Radon has been deemed the number 1 cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in a study done at the University of Iowa. Radon gas is found in varying levels in almost all regions of the country.

Radon Risk In Your County

Radon Map Zone areas in pink pose the highest risk followed by Orange and Yellow. Click here to check the specific Radon risk level in your county.

Radon Zone Map

Areas in red have the highest potential exposure, Orange second and Yellow, the lowest potential, but all araas in the US can have isolated pockets of varying exposure.  The EPA recommends that all homes should be tested.  If your home building project is in an area of higher risk, you should plan early to install a Radon Mitigation System. In many areas now, a test is required with each real-estate transaction regarding residential properties and this will probably expand to include most of the higher risk areas. In any event, your health is well worth the small investment to install such a system.

Active And Passive Radon Venting Systems

Many times the fan is located in the attic, particularly if your foundation is slab-on-grade or crawl space. Also remember that you will want to make sure that the vent through the roof does not allow water to fall down the pipe to the slab below, this would not be a good thing for several reasons.

Designing and installing the infrastructure for a passive system can be accomplished for about $250 to $350 in a typical new home. This will save you 400-500% of the cost of retrofitting. An active system will add $450-$750 depending on the size of your hew home.

Download an 84 page  guide on the design and construction of Radon Mitigation Systems.  It is free for registered users of the site. Enter your e-mail address in the “Enews and Updates” box in the top right hand column to register.  We do not share your address with anyone outside of DIY Green Home Improvement or Archeon, Inc.  Once you have registered, go to the download page and download your copy of “Design Radon Out”.

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• DIY Summertime Preventive Maintenance for HVAC Systems

HVAC Equipment

Summertime is upon us. If you are like me, you would be hard pressed to deal with a breakdown in your HVAC system. Late spring and early summer should find you doing preventative maintenance to avoid problems.

The first place to start are the evaporator coil fins in your compressor. Make sure the fins are clear of bugs, leaves and lawn mowing debris. Clogged fins will reduce the efficiency of the unit and reduce its working life. Be very careful when cleaning the fins. Do not bend them and uses a compatible tool of a soft brush to brush out the debris. You may use standard dish washing detergent to clean the fins.

Do not use any other cleaners, the chemicals can cause the fins to corrode, reducing their efficiency. Once the fins have been cleaned, rinse the fins with your hose and inspect them closely for excess corrosion. If the condition of the fins concern you, it would be a wise investment to have the unit checked out by a professional HVAC contractor. If you have bent fins, track down a fin tool to straighten them out. You use to be able to get them from Sears Industrial Tools 800/776-8666.

They can verify the functioning of the system electrical systems and test the freon levels. If the freon is low, it may indicate a leak and if the unit is over 10 years old, a leak, in all likelihood means replacing the unit.

If your compressor is an older model, your manufacturer may recommend that you lubricate the bearings. You should check the manual that came with your unit (if you still have it) or contact the help line for the manufacturer and ask for their advice in this regard they

Somewhere near the compressor on the outside, you may see a PVC pipe that just appears to be open to the air. This is probably the condensate drain from the air-handler closet into the house. Make sure this pipe is free of anything that can clog the opening. If you see algae growing on it at the opening, you may have a clog that you need to clear out. Many times, using a coat hanger pushed into the pipe a short distance and using a stirring motion will clear any clog.

Moving on to the air-handler, replace the filter and while you have it out, check the coils for accumulated dust and dirt. If you see an accumulation on them, gently brush them with a soft brush and vacuum out the excess. When this is done, inspect the drain pan underneath (if here is one) or check to see if there is a leak where the PVC condensate drain enters the air handler. If you see a leak here, you need to inspect the case or the pan to make sure it has not corroded around the entry to the pipe.

In most newer homes, they have configured the drain so that you can see down into it to check for algae or mold. If you have such a setup, pour about 1/4 cup of bleach down the pipe. Do not pour any other chemicals into he pipe. Once you have put the bleach in the pipe, pour an equal amount of water down the condensate pipe.

Replace the recommended filter and that should be good. Do not attempt to open the panel that encloses the electrical system, call a professional HVAC contractor instead if you think there is any problem with the electrical. You could be severely injured or killed. There is a capacitor inside, that stores a charge, even if you disconnect the power at the panel so be safe.

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