The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that over thirty percent of Utah homes have unsafe radon levels. Many people in Utah are beginning to know more about how harmful radon is to their health, so they are starting to test their homes for it.

If you want to also test your Utah home for radon gas, you will need to use long-term radon home testing kits Utahto do that. Also, hiring a certified installer to carry out radon gas installation Utah, is another way you can minimize radon in your Utah home or office space.

You must test your home for radon gas because it is not something you can taste, smell, or see. The main way you can know if the radon level in your home is unsafe is by simply performing a radon test.

So, how do you test your home for radon? There are two ways you can do that. You can either choose to do the short-term testing or the long-term testing.

Short-term testing

This is the easiest way you can test your home for radon. You will need to allow the short-term test kits to stay in your home for two to ninety days based on the type of kits you are using.

Many people use either charcoal liquid scintillation, electric ion chamber, alpha track, or charcoal canisters detectors to conduct short-term testing.

The result of short-term testing is not as effective as that of long-term testing because it will not give you enough details about the level of radon in your house in a year. Short-term testing is best for people who want to know the radon level in their house quickly.

Long-term testing

Electric and alpha track detectors are the common devices that are used for carrying out long-term testing of radon in your house.

You will need to leave these long-term test kits in your home for more than ninety days. The results of this test will provide you with a lot of important information about the average radon level in your home for one year. It is more effective than short-term testing.

How to use radon home testing kits

There are usually instructions written on the testing kits that you need to follow. Ensure you follow them strictly.

Before conducting a short-term test, make sure you close all your outside doors and windows for at least twelve hours. Avoid using fans or any machine that allows air to come from outside. But you are allowed to use air-conditioning and heating system fans that allow the re-circulation of air in your house.

Avoid conducting short-term tests that will last for about two or three days when there is a high wind or serious storm.

Also, ensure you keep your test kit in a room that is usually used in your home. Places like your bedroom or sitting room and not your bathroom or kitchen. 

Your test kit should be kept at least twenty inches above the floor in a place where it would not be disturbed – far from external walls, extreme humidity, high heat, and drafts. Keep the test kit in that same position for as long as the package says.

After completing the test, reseal the package and send it to the laboratory that was written on the package so that it can be analyzed. After a few weeks, your test results will be available for you to collect.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises that these steps should be followed when testing for radon:

First step: Start by taking a short-term test. If you get a result that is 4 pCi/L or higher, conduct a follow-up term test in the second step to be completely sure.

Second step: You can either follow up with a second short-term test or a long-term test.

Take a second short-term test immediately instead of a long-term follow-up test if your initial short-term test result is over double EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level.

Third step: If you follow up with a second short-term test, the higher your short-term results, the more sure you can be that you should work on getting rid of radon from your home. Work on your home if the average of your first and second test is either 4 pCi/L or higher. Also, if you follow up with a long-term test, work on your home if the long-term test result is either 4 pCi/L or higher.

Conclusion

Now that you have a guide for how to test your Utah home for radon, this is the best time to either buy radon home testing kits Utah or get a qualified installer to carry out radon gas installation Utah in your office or home. Do not allow the radon levels to escalate and destroy your health before taking action; quickly go get your home tested for radon.