Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can infiltrate your home and cause lung cancer through extended exposure. Interestingly, radon comes from the natural decay of uranium in rocks and soil. Because it’s a gas, it continuously moves toward lower air pressure. Follow along to learn what exactly makes radon levels fluctuate inside and outside your home.
Home Appliances
Although relatively uncommon, radon levels can fluctuate daily within your home. Interestingly, running appliances with exhaust vents can cause changes in air pressure. With that in mind, a normal day of tasks at home may actually contribute to a rise or fall in the overall radon level inside. Consider this list of appliances that may suck more radon out of the soil and welcome it to the air you breathe:
- Furnace
- Dryer
- Water heater
- Bathroom ventilation system
- Wood-burning fireplace
Heavy Rain Storms
Heavy wind and rain can drastically impact radon levels, and your home’s reading may be much higher during a storm. Because of the dramatic barometric pressure changes in the atmosphere during storms, radon moves up from the soil. The soil around your home and beneath it also changes with heavy rainfall. This may also be a contributing factor to higher radon levels.
Light Wind and Rain
Although heavy rain storms have a greater impact on radon levels, light wind and rain may also have a small effect on it. Usually, light wind and rain aren’t causes for concern, and they may lead to minuscule shifts in radon level readings due to minor air pressure changes.
Freezing Cold Weather
While you might think radon would be less of a problem during the winter months, that’s actually not the case. Believe it or not, radon levels tend to increase during the colder season because people keep their homes closed up, and furnaces pull air from underneath the house and circulate it throughout the living areas. Additionally, the frozen ground creates more pressure and causes the radon to move toward the lower pressure in the air.
After learning what exactly makes radon levels fluctuate, you know when the reading in your home may be the highest. Although fluctuations are normal, you may need a radon mitigation company in Lakewood, CO, if the reading remains above the safe level for more than a few days.
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