That's the best explanation I have seen. This is a subject where there are many (conflicting) old wives tales with no real explanation that have to be taken on faith, so it is good to get a reasoned and understandable analysis.
The penultimate paragraph was particularly interesting for me:
Quote:
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What if I don’t want to completely encase the floor framing? What if I want to go with Figure 9 and Photograph 6? That works if the crawlspace does not get too cold—in the summer—if it is coupled more to the outside air than to the crawlspace ground temperature. Elevated crawlspaces with open piers work fine in this regard (Photograph 7).
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This ties in with the approach at my house, where the crawl space is only really ventilated in the summer, by removing solid covers from the crawl space access points. I guess covering these in winter is intended to prevent cold air flowing through the crawl space to prevent it getting too cold, and opening them in summer allows the warmer summer air to raise the crawlspace temperature. So the approach taken back when my house was built in the 1890s is actually backed up by current understanding. Who'd a thunk it?