![]() Feel free to contribute with custom alert options such as MQTT, IFTT, etc. The alerts can be an email or SMS message sent via email. This project uses a small inexpensive digital pressure sensor from Honeywell with a Raspberry Pi to monitor and send alerts for a radon mitigation fan loss of vacuum. The Raspberry Pi looked like an ideal platform to monitor the radon mitigation pressure. Wikipedia: Radon RadonMaster™ Project Overview Minnesota Department of Health: Radon Mitigation US EPA: 2013 Consumers Guide to Radon Reduction US EPA: Find Information About Local Radon Zones I wanted a system that would send an alert to my cell phone as a text message that I could then quickly follow up on the next day. I wanted something that I could adjust the alert levels and also something that wouldn’t sound an alarm in the middle of the night, which would be worse than a smoke detector’s low battery chirp in the middle of the night. I was looking for something that was better. However, I noticed that when we have windy days, the wind gusts as seen on the manometer are large. There are commercial alarm systems that are available for about $80 USD that sound an alarm if the radon mitigation system loses pressure. However, most people don’t spend a lot of time in the basement or under their home in a crawl space looking at a manometer on their radon mitigation system. They are available for about $10 - $20 USD. ![]() A manometer uses the difference in water height in a U-shaped tube to show the pressure difference. I installed a u-tube manometer to measure the suction of the radon mitigation fan system as shown in the figure. However, if the radon mitigation fan should ever fail, I would silently be exposed to very high levels of radioactive radon.įigure 1: Radon Mitigation System Components source: Minnesota Department of Health: Radon Mitigation The levels are now running around the typical outdoor level. Radon has a half-life of 3.8 days so it takes a while to dissipate. I installed a radon fan for mitigation and the measured radon levels started to drop over the next few weeks from over 8 to under 1 pCi/L. The vent area should not be above or below a living area nor within 10 feet of windows, doors, or openings. The fan systems usually connect a sump well, drain tile, or sub-membrane beneath the building foundation or slab to a fan that then vacuums the vapors including radon gas to the outside where it disperses. The home already had an under concrete slab vent system so it was time to get an active fan system. Urgent action was required! A review of mitigation systems offered alternatives from venting to active fan systems that either pressurize the whole house with outside air or under home depressurization (vacuum). It measured over 8 pCi/L whereas outdoor levels are typically only around 0.3 pCi/L. When I recently bought a house I was told that radon was not an issue. More than what we are exposed to from cosmic rays, medical / dental screening, food, and drink combined! Scientists estimate that half the radiation we are exposed to in our lifetimes comes from radon gas. Worse yet, it clings to dust and surfaces and is easily inhaled making it a severe health hazard. It is invisible, odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It seeps into our homes through the tiniest of openings including tiny cracks in our basement floors, crawl spaces, and building foundations. Radon gas is part of the breakdown chain of naturally occurring radioactive materials in the ground beneath our homes. PrefaceĪccording to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon gas is the major cause of lung cancer amongst non-smokers killing about 21,000 people each year in the USA and 20,000 in the European Union. ![]() The software is written in Python and runs under Linux. Radon mitigation monitoring for homes and buildings - This is a DIY project for the Raspberry Pi or similar system using an inexpensive Honeywell sensor with a couple of wires.
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