Dehumidifier

B

blide

Does anyone run a dehumidifier in their tank room? I have a small room that my 2 tanks (20L & 75g) are in and the humidty readout on my hygrometer tells me the room maintains 70% humidty. The increased humdity causes the room to maintain a 80 degree temp which in turn makes the central AC run more than it should becasue the therostat is located in the hall near the room. I usually set my Tstat at 76 - 78 and all of the rooms are usually 1 to 2 degrees lower and the central AC is still running because it's still trying to cool nearby tank room which maintains 80 degree's at all time. I'm not an expert on all this so it gets a little confusing when you have to reduce humidty, lower temp, and try to save money by reducing the central AC running time. :?
 
well...

if you de-humidify the room your evaporation will increase.

With increased evaporation your tank temperature will decrease a little.

With a lower humidity in your room the AC will not need to work near as hard to condition the room.
 
True....

But a dehumidfier cools the air and then heats it again to remove maximum moisture and the exhaust air is at a warmer temp than the intake. So you would think this would add more heat to the room?
 
Well, this is a quandry for sure.

Reducing the humidity will make it easier for the AC to cool the room, that will create a greater temp variance between the tank water and the room air that will in turn increase the propensity for evaporation.

I'd spec out a humidifier, find the purchase price then add in power consumtption for 24 hour operation. Then find a suitable chiller and figure out the power consumption for a 10% - 20% working rate. You'd probably find the chiller to be more efficient in the long run. Can always use that convince the spouse to let you go the way of the chiller. :D

Review the size and number of pumps you're running also. If you have multiple pumps, consider consolidating them into one that is large enough to accomodate all your flow requirements, and if it's in the sump, consider relocating it to the ouside.

The best way to control getting heat out is to control what goes in.

If none of this flies, you can always punch a hole in the wall and run an exhaust outside from the room the tanks are in or relocate your thermostat to the opposite end of the hall.

Or wear shorts and a tank top in the tank room with a coat rack full of winter jackets next to the door. :D

~~~
I just finished setting my new tank up and have been working on temp settings... Canopy fans come on with the first light and shut off 15 mins after the last light shuts down. I'm currently running a 6 hour photoperiod due to upgrading from 360w PC's to 750w MH and will increase the photoperiod gradually over the next couple of months. The thing i'm paying close attention to is the water temp just before the lights come on, as I don't want to run the heater (0.48 amps) or the chiller (5.5 amps) if I can properly manage a couple .06 amp fans for the right amount of time. The fans will pull the tank temp down 6 degrees on 220g total volume over a 14 hour period if I let it (oops). I also consolidated a mag 12 and a mag 18 running for return, fuge and skimmer into a single sequence dart for dual returns, chiller, skimmer, and fuge lines. The dart is more efficient and adds less heat than the other two combined, and I still have to throttle it back (waiting on the valves to arrive) which will reduce it's power consumption and heat even more.

Hope this helps.

Chris
 
Does anyone else have humidty problems? Or maybe use a dehumidifer that they could recommend? :)

I also wonder if I could drain from a dehumidfier back into my auto-topoff? You would think it would be the same water...
 
My tanks are in the main living spaces so I have not had to worry about humidity. I would try a small window a/c unit in your room. They make smaller ones that won't be that expensive to run and most of the new window units are light enough that outside bracing is not required.
 
Bill,

I have a Kennmore dehumidifier I bought off eBay but only have to use it in the winter. Works well and eliminates the sweat on the windows. I would NOT use that water in the tank though as it looks nasty when you dump it out. Probably pulls dust and junk out of the air. Check out these posts on RC about using it:

One from Randy Holmes-Farley -
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=550820&highlight=dehumidifier+topoff

Search results for "dehumidifier topoff" -
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=5421739&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

No way I'd use it.

Lee
 
I have kept a spreadsheet of my hygrometer readings and the room is maintaining 74% humidity and a 80 degree temp. I'm thinking that's a little high on the humidity side? Does anyone know what humidity their room usually averages?
 
I have a dehumidifier (no idea the brand off the top of my head). It does add a some heat to the house. I run it in the spring and fall when it seems my tank temp really soars because the humidity outside it up. I am not really sure how much it helps cool the tank but it does help my comfort level in the house. Otherwise, it is hangs out the rest of the year.
 
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