Way too much humidity. Need advice.

[Krish]

Just an update:
Last week I cleaned all the walls, and I installed a small 4w (5 inch)high speed fan that pulls out a little over 400 cubic feet per minute.I picked it up at a grow shop for 30 bucks. Came with a wall socket plug in. Since its so low in power consumption, I dont mind it being on 24/7.

Usually within a couple days of cleaning the walls the mold would be back. But its been a week and nothing. Not even condensation dripping off the doors and windows. I think I got the solution. Thanks everyone.

That's good man...Glad it was that simple.

 

[bigblue141]

Okay, have A LOT of experience with this exact subject and I can tell you that a dehumidifier is definitely not the way to go UNLESS you have no other option. I have four tanks that run in my fish room and I literally had water on the floor/walls/everything else 100% of the time. I went out and bought a highly recommended dehumidifier(50 pints per day) and within a year it was not working correctly. I called customer service and they stated that the break down has a lot to do with how much the dehumidifier works and with what(saltwater). The machine is not meant to be working in a salt environment and the corrosion will run rampant...problem #1. BIG problem with a dehumidifier is also that is puts out a tremendous amount of heat. This was a big problem with my situation...problem #2. Also the rate of evaporation quadrupled and the customer service guy pointed out that, given the use, the machine would almost never turn off simply because the whole point is to extract water from the surrounding environment, which means it will be constantly pulling water out of our tanks/sumps/anything with open exposure to air...problem #3. I took care of all this by simply putting a larger (box) fan in the window pointing out. This actually lowered the humidity even lower than the dehumidifier could...without heat and with not even close to as much evaporation. So...dehumidifier = bad choice IF you have a window nearby and a fan.

Sorry partner, but the dehumidifier guy fed you a line. Salt does not evaporate. If you had the dehumidifier near your sump, then yes I can understand it sucking up salt spray, but if it were say on the other side of the room it should've had no bearing on it what-so-ever.

We make drinking water at sea by basically boiling sea water, capturing the steam, and cool it rapidly to get it back to it's liquid state. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's how desalinators work to make drinking water. You end up with pure H2O, and you treat it to prevent bacteria growing in your water supply in the dark humid holding tanks.

All in all steam, humidity, fog is just suspended tiny H2O droplets. No salt is in the droplets.

 

[FreakinReefin]

Sorry partner, but the dehumidifier guy fed you a line. Salt does not evaporate. If you had the dehumidifier near your sump, then yes I can understand it sucking up salt spray, but if it were say on the other side of the room it should've had no bearing on it what-so-ever.

We make drinking water at sea by basically boiling sea water, capturing the steam, and cool it rapidly to get it back to it's liquid state. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's how desalinators work to make drinking water. You end up with pure H2O, and you treat it to prevent bacteria growing in your water supply in the dark humid holding tanks.

All in all steam, humidity, fog is just suspended tiny H2O droplets. No salt is in the droplets.

Well if you read the whole post, that is exactly the case. He needs the dehumidifying in the room where his tank is which is absolutely close enough to get salt spray. My dehumidifier is about 10 feet from the tank and has corrosion. Plus the line, or lack there of, was him simply saying that the machine is not meant to be run where there is salt present...which around any SW tank, there is. I'm sure plenty of people can attest to having some form of metal object or tool that has had some corrosion on it from being left near or in a room with a SW tank in it. The fact that salt does not evaporate is also what the seed of the issue is...it collects and corrodes.

 

[tat2z_21]

The chrome on the legs of my 200 dollar end tables and coffee table has corroded. THey are about 4 feet from my tank. Pretty amazing how much a saltwater environment can cause corrosion on electronics and metal.

 

[dragoneggs]

Good discussion... I think I need to put a dehumid unit and a bathroom vent/fan down in my fishroom in the basement. Our suitcases and seasonal clothes close by are starting to get that moldy smell.

 

[sandswhitson]

We have been running a dehumidifier for two years now and no issues with corrosion or rust of any kind. We only use it in the winter but it pulls around 2-3 gallons a day.

 

[wethumbs]

I use a Lifebreath HRV (heat recovery ventilator) to passively remove the humidity in addition to a dehumidifier (active). The best dehumidifier on the market is Santa Fe. I also have a LG mini split that has a dehumidifcation mode to heat/cool the room. The key is to keep the fishroom less than 50% humidity. You may also want to take out the sheetrock (whiteboard) and replace them with 'yellow' board which repels water better than standard 'green' board. I used GP 5/8" DensArmor Plus for the fishroom. The DensArmor has a fiberglass vapor barrier instead of paper-faced like regular whiteboard. If you do use the DensArmor board, make sure you install them correctly, as the two sides are different and need to be installed with the proper side facing the room. Also, do not paint the DensArmor board with marine paint (another vapor barrier), just use regular latex paint will do.

Carpet flooring does not go well with fishroom. I would recommend using ceramic tiles instead. Since your walls are wet already, you may want to check the attic to see if the moisture has travelled up there through the crawlspace. Basically, during the cooler months, warm humid air in the fishroom will travel up the crawlspace through the hollow interior walls and meet with cold air in the attic causing the moisture to condensate and damage the insulation there (similar to a leaky roof). To prevent this from happening, I have insulated the walls and ceiling of the room, caulked all the electric outlets, and installed solid core door. The idea is to keep the fishroom air tight from the rest of the house.

 

[rayjay]

I think each household has to assess it's own set of paramaters to decide how to handle things.
Newer homes with better sealing and insulation need more heavy duty solutions. Also, the surface area of open water in the household, plus the temperature of that water, all can affect just how extreme one needs to go.
In my case I tried the dehumidifier route but that helped but didn't solve the problem in the long run.
Like wethumbs, I ended up with a Lifebreath HRV (300 DCS double core unit) which is merely an air exchanger that also transfers the heat energy from the outgoing to the incoming so that in summer, you aren't having to completely re cool the incoming air and in winter, you don't have to completely re heat the replacement air.
For application in cold climates, the HRV has a bypass system to draw in houshold air instead of the outdoor air to briefly warm the HRV preventing a freeze up.
For climates that don't go more than a couple of degrees below freezing, you use an ERV which is an exchanger without the bypass capability.
In any event, it is an excellent form of getting fresh air into the household, especially when the weather demands the household be shut up for heating or cooling.
Here in Canada, many jurisdictions require (building code regulations) HRV installation in the homes built today that are now so airtight and well insulated that it becomes also a safety issue not having one.

 

[King_Neptune]

Just a heads up. The small fan is still going strong. Since its so low in wattage, I just let it blow 24/7 and it keep the whole room dry. I have a spare for when it burns out eventually. But for now, its doing an amazing job.

 

[colin779]

Thanks for the update. I have my 90 in my living room and the humidity level seems to stay between 30 and 40% which i do not believe is harmful to anything. In the summer with windows open im sure it stays well below that.

 

[King_Neptune]

Ya, you should be fine, also a high traffic area means air is constantly being replaced. My situation was an aquarium room where the only activity is once a day for 15-30 min.