Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in Canada for nonsmokers, as the radioactive gas can build up to hazardous levels indoors.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Well shit, I didn’t even know this was a thing…

    Health canada says not to use a detector in an unfinished basement since you don’t spend as much time there, but if I ordered a 3 pack wouldn’t it make sense to know if it’s building up there? We still spend hours in it over the month.

    • sik0fewl@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah. I wondered about that, too. I don’t spend much time down there… but that’s where my exercise bike is - when I’m breathing the most.

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Without a better reason why not, I’d definitely check there too if I was doing that.

        I just watched a video of the Holmes on Holmes guy talking about it with people, and they say if you’re on well water and have radon in the house, 100% of the time it’s also in the water.

        When you take a shower, it then gasses off and the number can go over 1000.

        They say that’s bad (and would be short term) also eating it’s bad.

        So ya, I think I’ll get a 3 pack and put one down there

      • k_rol@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        The radon could also go up to the first floor of your house, especially with closed windows. We had a finished basement, and bought a radon detector (radoneye), we found out we had over 1800 Becquerel/m3 downstairs and about 1500 upstairs. It quickly goes away when we opened the windows but also comes back completely within days.

        It’s a huge amount so we got the fan installed and we are now at 15 and 0. It costs us about $1500 to install.

        For those who get the system installed, please keep in mind that depending on how your house is built, you may need to extract the gas from the two halves of the basement if you have a slab right in the middle used as some sort of foot. You’d have to check the blueprint to know. The installer might have an idea too depending on the construction year of the house.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Just get a plug in one that’s always on. This is the one you want. They used to be the only company that made such a thing; since I bought mine (a 3rd gen) a bunch of years ago, the nonsense companies have also started making them.

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s a lot more expensive…

        3 mail in one’s were I think $110 plus the cost to mail it to California. And you don’t have to buy 3

        That’s about $285 CAD after conversion, shipping and duties, and that’s on sale.

        • Nougat@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Worth it for me. I spend more time in this basement office than anywhere else, by a longshot. I don’t have to wonder. I don’t have to wait while results from a test kit get back. I don’t have to worry about “Eh, I’ll get another test kit … later.” This is how I knew I needed to replace my first active radon fan with a new one: the alarm went off. The detector I have has been clicking along for many years; I have definitely saved money and worry in the long term.