How to Test the Science of Your House Breathing

The "Stack Effect" is a term that refers to the way that air moves throughout a home.

As the air in a home warms, it naturally begins to rise upwards, passing upwards from the lower levels.  Eventually, as this air is heated, it passes to the attic or top of the upper levels, exiting the home through the top of the house.  As this happens, it creates a vacuum in the lower levels of the home- one that is filled with new air from the basement, crawl space, and the air outside.

A way to test how the stack effect works is to spray paint something in your basement. Once you go upstairs over the spot in the basement that you sprayed, you should be able to smell the paint. Now if you go upstairs (an attic if you have one) and spray paint up there, go back to the first floor below where you sprayed. You should not be able to smell the paint from the attic. The reason why you cannot smell the paint from the attic is because heat rises and the odor already escaped out from the vents. Hopefully you have a better understanding on how the stack effect works with Healthy Basement Systems’ science experiment!