Dehumidifier feeding into my ATO

D_Reep1106 · Jul 27, 2017

Hey guys Ive been working on this thought for a while. The dehumidifier Im looking at uses a heater to condense the water. In theory it should basically be just distilled water but something in me just says theres more going on that Im not thinking of. The reason Im trying to do this is cause Im putting my 180 (with 125 sump) and 60 gallon frag tank in a 10x10 room and if I dont control the humidity itll pretty much melt the dry wall hahaha. Let me know what yall think about fedding my ATO resevoir with a dehumidifier.

stunreefer · Jul 27, 2017

Definitely use a dehumidifier in that size room. Do not use the water it condenses. Test the TDS in dehumidifier reservoir as to why not ;)

mcarroll · Jul 27, 2017

D_Reep1106 said:
Hey guys Ive been working on this thought for a while. The dehumidifier Im looking at uses a heater to condense the water. In theory it should basically be just distilled water but something in me just says theres more going on that Im not thinking of. The reason Im trying to do this is cause Im putting my 180 (with 125 sump) and 60 gallon frag tank in a 10x10 room and if I dont control the humidity itll pretty much melt the dry wall hahaha. Let me know what yall think about fedding my ATO resevoir with a dehumidifier.

Copper coils.

Anthony kolodziej · Jul 27, 2017

skip the de-humidifier and put window fans on exhaust to pull air out of room to outside and run it 24/7 cheaper to run , no heat added back to room from the de-humidifier . I went through this when I had 600 gallons of tanks in a room about the same size you are doing

redfishbluefish · Jul 27, 2017

Not only the copper/aluminum finned coils, but it is also pulling out crap from the air. Definitely do not use dehumidifier water...it's not truly distilled!

chipmunkofdoom2 · Jul 27, 2017

D_Reep1106 said:
The dehumidifier Im looking at uses a heater to condense the water.

Really? Humidifiers typically use a cool surface to condense water, as water tends to condense at lower temperatures, not higher. The reason the air comes out slightly warm is because most units use phase change refrigeration, and operating the compressor generates heat. I would be very curious to see a humidifier that condensed water using heat.

More on topic, what they all said ^. Condensed water from humidifiers has usually touched copper heat exchangers or condensers. Plus any contaminants that might be in your air could be concentrated in the water. Topping off with condensed water might be philosophically appealing (tank puts water into air, you remove water from air and put back into tank), but for all the reasons above, I wouldn't do it.