More dumb questions - HUMIDITY CONTROL

[Charlie the Reefer]

Hello everyone,

I am planning a ~160G total system. My plan is to have the sump in the utility room (~45G). My biggest hangup right now is humidity. I've heard humidity can be a big problem for your HVAC / furnace, and other exposed equipment, not to mention wooden material in the home.

I see five solutions that can work in tandem or separate: 1) Moisture Barrier, 2) Dehumidifier, 3) Exhaust fan, 4) Air exchanger, 5) Sump lid. I have multiple questions about each of these solutions, weighing the pros/cons of each.

For 1) it seems like a no-brainer cheap solution. However, my concern would be you end up with excess humidity in the area you section off, which could potentially be an issue for any electronic equipment you keep in there? Not sure.

on 2) A dehumidifier sounds like a foolproof solution - however, the high-end units are quite costly. Additionally, the upkeep/electricity costs are not insignificant.... So not a fan of the economics on this one. Finally, and actually most importantly, I heard dehumidifiers carry a fire risk and put out heat. Is this a legit concern? Or overblown. Cheaper models especially, so I'd avoid those most likely.

For 3) I'm confused as to how this wouldn't create a significant air vacuum. Especially if you go with 1). If you take efforts to make a space near air-tight, and you're pulling air out of that section.... How would that not create an air vacuum.

4) Again these are pricey, but also... It's not a viable solution in the summer/winter. I get extreme temperatures in both seasons, so to me it'd be wasteful/annoying to have to use different solutions seasonally.

On 5) I don't want to go this route but will consider it. I've heard air exchange is important for oxygen, ph, etc...


As you can see I'm really having a tough time designing this thing. I would appreciate any answers to questions above, your own solutions, or thoughts in general about Humidity control...

Thanks everyone I really appreciate it.

Charlie

 

[Jekyl]

FWIW I have a 90g in wall tank that was installed in the closet of the adjacent room to my living room. I haven't done a single thing to combat moisture and no issues after 4 years.

 

[ReefEco]

Hey Charlie - no questions are dumb! I finished building a fishroom last year, and you can see the first couple videos (link in sig) about what I did for humidity control - which is basically just an exhaust fan, and a vent to get air into the fishroom. The exhaust fan I think is the most bang for your buck in terms of a solution, as long as you also add a way to get new air (outside air or from the rest of the house) into the new space. Also, sump lids are a good solution - and likely won't impact your gas exchange compared to the surface area of your tank itself, and especially if you are running a skimmer. I would start with an exhaust fan (on a humidistat) and sump lids, and see where that gets you. Moisture barrier is nice, but if you are getting the humidity out of the area, which is really what is needed, the barrier is not really needed.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

Hey Charlie - no questions are dumb! I finished building a fishroom last year, and you can see the first couple videos (link in sig) about what I did for humidity control - which is basically just an exhaust fan, and a vent to get air into the fishroom. The exhaust fan I think is the most bang for your buck in terms of a solution, as long as you also add a way to get new air (outside air or from the rest of the house) into the new space. Also, sump lids are a good solution - and likely won't impact your gas exchange compared to the surface area of your tank itself, and especially if you are running a skimmer. I would start with an exhaust fan (on a humidistat) and sump lids, and see where that gets you. Moisture barrier is nice, but if you are getting the humidity out of the area, which is really what is needed, the barrier is not really needed.

Excellent, this is great and straightforward. Much appreciated!

 

[Joe31415]

For 3) I'm confused as to how this wouldn't create a significant air vacuum. Especially if you go with 1). If you take efforts to make a space near air-tight, and you're pulling air out of that section.... How would that not create an air vacuum.

In theory, it would. However, *anytime* you use an exhaust fan, you have to allow for make up air for that reason. Well, not that you're actually going to create a vacuum, but rather that the fan won't actually draw any air out.
Also, remember that room isn't 'near air-tight' if there are any central AC/furnace vents in it. If there are, it's going to pull air in from the rest of the house.
And, with that, if your house was built in the last 20-30ish years (and has central air/heat), it likely has a make up air system built right into the central air system. Check the perimeter of your house, near the ground, for a random vent. On the inside, if you have a system like this, you'll find a duct running from that vent to one of the return ducts for your HVAC system. That's designed so when you turn on an exhaust fan (be it over your stove, in your bathroom or by your fish tank), new air can easily be drawn in via that vent, enter the HVAC system and get pulled through the furnace filter (and heated/cooled if it happens to be running). Without that, make up air ends up getting pulled in through the attic soffits, though whatever is up there (dust/insulation etc) or through the basement foundation/slab (dust/radon etc) before entering your living quarters.

Having said all this, I doubt you'll have any issues. Mitigating humidity doesn't seem to be a wide spread issue that I've noticed. Plus, you're in Chicago. The extra humidity will be a non-issue in winter and taken care of by the AC in summer.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Having said all this, I doubt you'll have any issues. Mitigating humidity doesn't seem to be a wide spread issue that I've noticed. Plus, you're in Chicago. The extra humidity will be a non-issue in winter and taken care of by the AC in summer.

Good point Joe, I experienced this in NJ, I have no issues with humidity in the winter and during the summer the AC takes care of humidity on the 1st floor and new dehumidifier i have is outstanding in the entire basement - where my sump is.

I have 700 gallon of saltwater and thought Id be doomed with humidity but its a non factor really. basement would get musty and humidity would rise to 90% during the summer but dehumidifer keeps it wherever i set it, i had it at 50% but changed it to 60%, just bc it seemed to never stop.

 

[Joe31415]

I wonder how much of that humidity you could stop right at the source if you covered the sump. I assume there's equipment (ie skimmer) that's taller than the sump, but I'd bet if you threw some plexiglass on either side of it, even with the giant gap around the skimmer, it would still help reduce some of the evaporation.