How do you deal with humidity?

[prop-frags]

I tried this thread over in reef discussion but got no bites, so here we are:

The moist, salt-laden hot air generated by our systems can create big problems in the house. Salt, mildew, mold, rot, rust, etc., can be terrible for home HVACs, electronics, and the structure itself.

Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) are used by some folks with fishrooms and/or in-wall setups, as an efficient way to ventilate air and remove excess humidity and heat.

We are looking for an ERV solution for our setup and would like to see other installations, and hear about your experiences. Do they really work? Are they worth the investment? Are you using dehumidifiers instead? How are you dealing with this problem in your house? Have you seen any setups that were very creative in dealing with this problem?

 

[edandsandy]

We are having the same problem, right now we are using a dehumidifier...
I would like to have the ERV's.......I think they are better.

 

[Bob Nell]

Humidity

Humidity

I have 3 tanks, total volume 1000 gal in finished lower level. I had issues, most notably in the attic. I installed a separate hvac and whole house dehumidifier dedicated just to this level, which has about 1000 square feet. The system also can vent to the outside. My house is 10 years old and very well insulated.

 

[prop-frags]

thanks for the replies, Sandy and Bob.
We have a remote fish room, so we need to deal with the humidity out there (room built in the garage), as well as that generated by the display tank. Some folks use dryer line and forced air to vent the hot/moist air from the display directly to the outside... but our HVAC installer is warning about impacts to the home's static pressure if we do that.

Any other opinions on what to do?

 

[serpentman]

I've been venting my tank/fishroom directly outside for about a year and have not noticed any issues with my HVAC. I do leave a small window in the basement cracked a tiny bit when its above freezing out.

I have a cold air return in the fishroom as well that is closed 8 mos out of the year. During the extreme cold winter months, I use the outside vent less and open the air return to allow the furnace to burn it and redistribute some of the humidity since the rest of the house is extremely dry during the winter.