Fish room humidity

[jmkarcz]

What % are you running at that you finally got rid of the moisture on your windows? I've been running 10 hours now, and I'm at 49% this morning.. I know I'm gonna have to run it lower to bring down the upstairs, atleast till I pipe it in...

I know what you mean about prodcrastinating to hard install something. I find it's just easiest to start with mounting it where you want it, then start picking away at it... at some point you get fired up about finishing it.

Jason

 

[yaitisme]

The % is going to very depending on the outside temp which then affects the inside glass temp and dew point for condensation on the windows. You can also bump your indoor air temp up a bit to help get your inside window panes a bit warmer. It also helps to run your furnace fan a bit more. LUX makes a digital thermostat that runs your fan for a set amount of time per hour independent of the heating section of your furnace.

A air to air heat exchanger helps too. My parents installed one this fall, I am keeping an eye on how this is working for them. They have radiant heat with forced air AC (register away from the windows) and have had problems with moisture on their windows for some time (with no fish tank whole house humidifiers).

 

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8516802#post8516802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmkarcz
What % are you running at that you finally got rid of the moisture on your windows? I've been running 10 hours now, and I'm at 49% this morning.. I know I'm gonna have to run it lower to bring down the upstairs, atleast till I pipe it in...

I know what you mean about prodcrastinating to hard install something. I find it's just easiest to start with mounting it where you want it, then start picking away at it... at some point you get fired up about finishing it.

Jason

I'm not quite sure what the humidity is. Have not yet recieved my free humidistat in the mail. From the markings on the side of the unit, I'm guessing approx 55%.

 

[jmkarcz]

I hit 44% when I got home... I am just going toleave the air circ o the furnace to help dry the house for a few days, then try to slowly edge toward 40% in the whole house.

Your exactly correct Scott. and Prugs, they send you free stuff... all I got was the warm fuzzy feeling that I bought a brand name from a nice guy. huh... (looking leftout and kicking a can down the hall) (inserted emotion as Jessic would...)

I bought the digital humidistat control for my unit, it runs on the 24V system... or so my family HVAC guy says. I had one of those dial types, but dropped it so many times it said it should be raining in the basement.

J

 

[scooters reef]

I still can't figure out what I want to do, although I have plenty of time since I can't afford any of the options at this moment.

I like the whole house unit like Jasons, but find something wrong with every configuration I come up with. If I put it in the fish room with return in the existing ducts I'm pumping heat to the whole house, and it will also work harder being in the highes humidy room in the house not knowing the rest is nowhere near.

So, even if I move away from a stand alone unit for the fish room, I'd still like it to have it's own addition means of removing moisture.

I thought about putting it in the only storeroom in the basement with a return to the ducts, but it is also the only unheated/uninsulated space in the basement and will be moving cold air to the rest of the house. I suppose I could put it in the storeroom with a duct to a vent in the finished space, then return to the house ducting if the humidistat controlling it is also not in the storeroom.

 

[yaitisme]

Scooter, here is another option for you:

http://www.suncourt.com/Brochures/Airiva031230.pdf

I am researching this unit for use in bring my overall house humidity down in the winter (home too tight, have had window moisture probs for several years). I would piggy-back it onto my current HVAC system to passively use the cold air returns when the furnace is not running.

For your setup, I would install it high, out of the way, in your fish room (humidity rises, this is why it is recommended to get your room dehum. up off your floor a min. of 3') and run it on low (with a humidistat) to exhaust just that room (mostly) and also your basement without screwing with your HVAC upstairs. At round 80% heat recovery eff. you will exhaust some lamp heat also. Beats running a dehumidifier 24/7 and generating extra heat.

 

[jmkarcz]

Scooter, this one allows you the option of taking some air from the house, and some air from the fish room or baement, and then returning them into different areas of the house as you need... you could modify that more to fit your configuration... I don't want ducts running all over my basement, and so, certain compromises will have to be made. An air to air exchanger would work too. I mean, during the summer, your central air will help keep the temp and some of the humidity in check, then during the dry months, winter, you could use dry air from outside to change for humid air inside.

Remember, changing out the air in your home leads to a more healthy environment.

BTW, the moisture on my winders is disappearing... slowly.

and I'm sure the single pane glass in the windows in the house are not helping... next year we start replacing them with double and tripple pane with thermal air barriers and all that stuff... I have to learn more yet.

J

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[yaitisme]

If you have single pane windows, you have to expect drippy windows! I don't miss mine!

 

[jmkarcz]

Day 1 that there is no moisture on the windows... and I feel great... except for that odor of the fish I fried I last night...

J

 

[prugs]

Got around to putting in the vent system. Nothing showing but a regular size vent in the ceiling of the fish room.
It's amaizing what happens, when you do point source dehumidification.