Help With Hummidity Please

Medicine Man

Medicine Man

Premium Member
I have a 180 gallon tank in my basement plumbed to a 100 gallon stock tank/sump that is also plumbed to a 40 gal frag tank, 40 gal refugium and another 65 gal sump. Everything but the display tank (180 gal) is in my furnace / water heater room that I have also converted into a fish room (Approx 10 x 12). There is a noticeable humidity difference when you enter the room and a few of the pipes in the ceiling have slight condensation on them. I have been looking at a few exhaust fans and have also talked with my uncle who is a contractor about the issue and he suggested a "Dual squirrel cage fan". Can you guys make a suggestion or point me into a good direction on my decision for an exhaust fan? I'm also worried about the excess moisture damaging my Heater/air condition and water heater that is also in the room. Is this a valid concern? As always thanks for any help :D
 
The only problem that I see with those is that I live in Springfield, MO where the humidity stays anywhere from 70-90% in the summer and 50-70% in the winter. The only info that I have on the heat exchange units is through the forum though so please tell me if I am thinking incorrectly about how they work. I about died from the humidity in Florida a couple of summers ago so I must not understand them completely. Thanks for the help!
 
Mine is in my finished basement and I installed a bathroom exhaust fan over the tank which exhausts outside. I shut it off in the winter when I like the extra humidity.
Paul
 
Couldn't you use an exchanger in the winter and a simple exhaust fan in the summer and use your air conditioning as a dehumidifier?
 
what you really need is an HRV which takes out the stale air and replaces it with fresh air. It works off a humistat and works great for a controlled enviroment. Every "new" houses should have them as CODE in Canada anyways. Came out for the "R2000 homes" which were air tight. I have installed 100's of these http://www.lifebreath.com/ These are very good units and would recommend. And like serpentman said the A/c coil in the furnace works as a dehumifier which used the DBT to condensate water. Good luck or just open a window and put a fan in it.

Some people put exhaust fans in their home and don't replace the air that thier exhausting WHICH creates a NEGATIVE in the house which may produce CO2 if any appliances are gas natural draft style equipment. Therefore install a combustion air for make up air. Simple a house from outside (4" hose) and make a p trap in the line of the hose. (should look like a J)

good luck
 
Thanks for the help everyone! I think it is going to take not just one thing but at least two. Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier? I bought a Kenmore last year and it lasted 3 months and died. Of course the warranty on it was only 90 days. I think it was literally 92 days when it died. Thanks again!
 
Look at at Broan Guardian Plus Air to Air exchanger model #GSSH3k. This unit comes with its own controll and you can run it year round. Also you can look at a large dehumidifer and a strong exhaust fan for the fish room. I would look at a couple of these options. Also if you go with the exhaust fan look at setting it up so you can run for 10-15 mintues every 60-90 mintues.

Also depending on the age of the house and the furnace you could run into warranty issuse if you do not take care of the extra moisture problems. I am HVAC contractor and have had to deal with this same issue in other peoples houses. The salt air will corride the furnace circuit board, and take a toll on some of the other major parts.
 
This is how I resolved my humidity issue. It didn't eliminate it completely, but I only have to run a dehumidifier if there has been some sort of unusuall prolonged wet weather. I vented the skimmer.
3140mini-IMG_0047.JPG
 
If you are only looking to reduce humidity in your furnace/ fish room two enexpensive fans would probally be fine as 120 SQ FT wouldn,t require much flow. Blow one in and one out to create a flow. As for the HRV or ERV units they work really well, or at least the ones we sell do (( no harm intended just know about what I sell)) But these units can be very pricey to install.

If the humidity level is high around your furnace it can cause problems, along with the salt in the air. Wouldnt worry to much about the salt unless you have an ocean wind blowing mist off the top of the tank. Definatly have your furnace checked every year in the fall as a precaution no matter what conditions you have around it.

If you or anyone else reading this has any questions about their heating/ AC system or potential warrant question PM me and if I dont know the answer we can find it out.
 
A dehumidifer is really your only option.. If the air outside is as humid as you say then a exhaust fan or Air Exchanger won't help..If you Exhaust air from the house outside then make up air has to come in from outside.. Thats just how it works.. I'm sorry I can't Remeber the link but I remember reading somewhere on here about a really good brand of dehumidifer sold online.. They were said to use less power and make alot less noise then the cheap ones lowes and homedepot sell. Maybe a Search on RC could help you more.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9586891#post9586891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
I'm sorry I can't Remeber the link but I remember reading somewhere on here about a really good brand of dehumidifer sold online.. They were said to use less power and make alot less noise then the cheap ones lowes and homedepot sell. Maybe a Search on RC could help you more.
Click to expand...

Santa Fe Dehumidifier
 
I think there is enuf contractors here to help you out! I install a HRV for my house for under a grand. unit was 600 bucks go figure.
 
I think 8ball nailed it. You might get by with a dual system. Fans in the winter when humidity is lower ( I use and really like fantech in-line fans) and de-humidifier in the summer. Like he said, for every cubic foot you exhaust, another cubic foot needs to come in.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9587266#post9587266 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dsandfort
I think 8ball nailed it. You might get by with a dual system. Fans in the winter when humidity is lower ( I use and really like fantech in-line fans) and de-humidifier in the summer. Like he said, for every cubic foot you exhaust, another cubic foot needs to come in.
Click to expand...

FWIW I also use Fantech In-line Fans in my Equipment room to help with moisture and for the main source of cooling in the winter time. I have one turned to Exhaust air and the other to Bring fresh air in.. Pretty much a make shift Air Exchanger. I rigged them to a Thermostat so they cut on and off at a set Tempiture.

In the summer I have a window AC just for the room.. It keeps the tanks cool and Takes out alot of the humidity

I'm not sure if the link above was the same I was thinking of. I don't remember them costing that much. They were high but it was more like 700-800 bucks..I wish I could remember the brand name..
 
The Santa Fe dehumidifiers look like they would work great but is there a cheaper alternative that would work well for a small fish room. Does anyone know about the Soleus dehumidifiers like the Soleus CFM-40?
 
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