Can I Put A Dehumidifier In My Crawl Space Without Encapsulation?

If you’ve landed on this article, you have a crawl space that needs some help. Maybe it smells musty whenever you open the door. Perhaps the musty smell has traveled into your living space. For whatever reason, you’re thinking of using a dehumidifier to solve the problem.

Generally, dehumidifiers are paired with encapsulation. But if you’re on a budget, can you skip the encapsulating step and just invest in a dehumidifier?

South Central Services has installed spray foam insulation in hundreds of homes in and around Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Before we started installing insulation, we worked on HVAC equipment. Our team has a solid understanding of the relationship between insulation and HVAC, and we want your home to function at its best.

By the end of this article, you will understand:

• If you can put a dehumidifier in any crawl space
• If adding a dehumidifier to your crawl space will actually benefit you

Don't have time to read right now? Check out everything you need to know at a glance.

The Short Answer: In Theory, You Can Put A Dehumidifier In Your Crawl Space Without Encapsulation.

While you can put a dehumidifier in an unconditioned crawl space, it will not create the results that you're looking for. Vented crawl spaces have uncontrolled infiltration, which means the dehumidifier will struggle to manage the space.

While dehumidification systems are designed to process excess humidity, vented crawl spaces have too much infiltration to manage.

In summer, your crawl space will have a large volume of high-humidity air entering through the necessary vents. This will cause the dehumidifier to struggle to keep up.

In winter, the crawl space could exceed the load temperature cutout of the dehumidifier. This will force the unit to trip out on a safety limit switch.

The dehumidifier will have little to no effect in an unencapsulated crawl space because there is too much infiltration. Without encapsulation, the crawl space is not manageable.

What Kind Of Dehumidifier Can You Put Into A Crawl Space?

The kind of dehumidifier a crawl space needs cannot be found at Lowe’s or Home Depot. When we say that the dehumidifier won’t do much, we’re talking about a professional-grade crawl space-specific dehumidifier that costs thousands of dollars. The dehumidifier brands we recommend cost anywhere between $1,500 to $3,000.

A dehumidifier you can pick up at Lowe’s, whether $60 or $200, will not do anything for your crawl space, encapsulated or not.

These dehumidifiers do not have the pint capacity to handle the quantity of moisture in a crawl space.

The Long Answer: It Isn't Worth Putting A Dehumidifier In Your Crawl Space Without Encapsulation.

Why can’t crawl space dehumidifiers eliminate excess humidity without encapsulation?

Simply put, encapsulation prevents the infiltration of outside air and humidity. To encapsulate a crawl space is to cut it off from the climate surrounding it in the ground. In an encapsulated crawl space, the purpose of a dehumidifier is to control the environment.

Without encapsulation, cold air and humidity infiltration cannot be managed. Even a professional-grade dehumidifier cannot control the climate with so many outside variables. In the winter, that dehumidifier would not be able to function properly, as the crawl space is subjected to wintertime temperatures often at or below freezing.

Think about your home in the summertime. On scorching days in southern Pennsylvania, many residents turn to an air conditioner to keep their houses cool. When you run the air conditioning, you keep your windows and doors closed.

A dehumidifier in a crawl space without encapsulation is like running the AC in the summertime with open windows.

Is Encapsulation Worth The Cost?

When you’re on a tight budget, you have to consider whether a home improvement project is really necessary or worth the investment.

You may have considered dehumidifiers a potential solution, thinking the maximum cost would be about $200. In reality, a crawl space dehumidifier will cost at least $1,500.

Since the right dehumidifier will cost thousands, encapsulation itself is worth considering. There is no effective and budget-friendly solution for crawl spaces. Encapsulation is the solution if your crawl space is musty, your floors are cold, or you’re facing unusually high energy bills.

The encapsulation cost for your crawl space will depend on various factors. However, you can assume you’ll spend several thousand dollars on encapsulation.

Here are some benefits of encapsulating your crawl space.

1. Encapsulation Is Permanent.

Encapsulated crawl spaces do require some occasional maintenance. If a dehumidifier is installed, the machine’s filter must be changed yearly. In some homes, the vapor barrier on the crawl space floor can tear due to heavy traffic. If a tear occurs, it can be repaired with crawl space tape.

However, crawl space encapsulation should last for the lifetime of your home. Encapsulation is not an investment you'll have to make twice.

2. Encapsulation Can Increase Resale Value.

An encapsulated crawl space is clean and easier to maintain. An encapsulated crawl space is much more desirable than a musty, dirty, pest-infested one.

Encapsulation can be an attractive selling feature for buyers. Depending on how your home is appraised, encapsulation could even increase resale value.

3. Encapsulation Solves Root Problems In The Crawl Space.

There are other methods for dealing with crawl spaces. However, this is the only method that works well in our climate zone, Climate Zone 5. Homes in southern Pennsylvania experience the distinct weather patterns of the four seasons.

A crawl space is a wet, damp environment that creates cold air in the winter and hot, humid air in the summer. This air infiltrates your home through plumbing and other penetrations in the floor. From an energy and comfort standpoint, this is problematic. But by encapsulating the crawl space, the crawl space circulates clean, conditioned air.

Other methods cut off the home from the crawl space, leaving the crawl space damp and dingy. Encapsulation cuts off the crawl space from the outside elements, keeping that space clean.

4. Encapsulation May Not Require A Separate Dehumidifier Purchase.

Depending on your crawl space, you might not even need to purchase a dehumidifier after encapsulating. Crawl spaces with HVAC ductwork running through them can use the existing HVAC as a dehumidification system.

If you can tap into what already exists, there is no need to purchase a separate dehumidifier to condition the air.

The Bottom Line About Using Dehumidifiers In Crawl Spaces

Dehumidifiers are often a necessary piece of machinery to add to a crawl space. However, they can’t offer much benefit unless the environment of the crawl space is controllable. With uncontrolled infiltration, the dehumidifier cannot do much to combat humidity successfully.

If your crawl space is causing problems for your home, the solution you need is encapsulation.

Now that you know how dehumidifiers function in crawl spaces, your next step is to:

• Estimate the cost of encapsulation for your crawl space
• Discover if DIY encapsulation is an option for your home
• Learn why encapsulation is the best solution for crawl spaces

Featured image courtesy of AprilAire.