Higher evaporation in winter

[G Santana]

I never noticed before but in the last few weeks my tank has been guzzling water like a sponge in the desert.
During summer months I lose about 5 gallons ever 3-4 days.
Yesterday I made 7 gallons of RO and filled the 5 gallon reservoir today its almost gone. On average I'd guess I use 5 gallons ever 3 days during the winter but more lately.
I wonder if the summer humidity plays a part in slower evaporation during the summer months.
How much water do you guys use on 90-150 gallons on average?

 

[olonmv]

I’ve noticed this too, I assumed it was due to heating the home vs cooling it.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Colder air has lower humidity. Winter dries out my skin....especially my hands

 

[ca1ore]

Of course it does ….. humidity in the Winter is much lower than the Summer. That is the main reason, by the way, that evaporative cooling doesn’t work in high humidity climates.

 

[PotatoPig]

In winter you’re getting air from outside. It’s cold, so can carry relatively little water. Even “humid” cold air doesn’t carry much water compared to humid warm air.

Then you bring the air into your home and warm it up. The mass of water in the air is the same, but the temperature is noticeably higher, meaning the humidity inside your house is really low.

This makes it so the air in your house is really good at accepting moisture from your tank.

In summer, especially if you’re not running AC, you’re not crashing the air humidity so it’s less a draw for evaporation from the tank.

Other note: Evaporation = Heat Loss = More work by heaters. Evaporation draws a huge amount of heat from the tank, so cutting down on evaporation will cut down on heater usage. Similarly - in summer if you need to cool a tank then a fan onto the water will stimulate evaporation and draw a lot of heat out.

 

[Justin Cook]

Same here. I'm always amazed at how much more topoff is required when it's cold out. I cover my sumps and whatever else I can during the winter months to cut down on evaporation cooling and the high topoff demands. I honestly don't know if it helps much but it can't hurt. Just yesterday I removed, cleaned and stored all of the covers until they're needed this Fall. Wouldn't you just know it, it was 40° this morning. Looks like I was a day early.

 

[Pistondog]

In summer , we also notice it is harder to cool the tank with fans on humid days.
In winter, we like the tanks to add moisture to the air for the macro-fauna.