January is National Radon Awareness month.

Radon is an odorless, tasteless, invisible gas that is very common in our Granite State of New Hampshire.  Radon is 8 times heavier than air, it will accumulate in the basement and can then spread up into the home above.  It can also be concentrated in private well water which can then enter the home through sinks and showers.  See the info graphic below.

Radon comes from the ground and any home can have elevated levels.  Your neighbor can have low radon and your home can have high levels, there are many different factors that can affect the levels.

A few quick facts about Radon:

• Radon is the SECOND leading cause of lung cancer, just behind smoking cigarettes.
• Radon can be in the air and in your well water
• Of the 25,000 New Hampshire homes that have been tested through the State radon program, more than 30 percent exhibited radon concentrations that exceeded the action level of 4.0 pCi/L
• In the winter time levels of Radon can increase due to the “Stack Effect”.   The heating system in the home will draw more gas out of the cold foundation and the ground.
• Carrol County has the highest Radon Levels in New Hampshire
• Radon mitigation systems are not as expensive as most people think

Please share this info with your friends and family and urge them to get a Radon Air Test if they haven’t yet. There are home test kits that are available from hardware stores, local testing facilities, or call us at Knox Home Inspections.  We use the best available electronic continuous radon measuring machines for the fastest and most accurate results.

Thank you very much and Happy New Year!