Humidity

[jackj]

Humid today in the Lower Hudson Valley.  My shop is in the basement of our home.  Like me you may like more control over humidity. In April 2014 I began getting some ground water seepage into the playroom alongside the shop.  Not very serious but the Apollo era de-humidifier could not deal with it.  And I knew going into summer that the humidity would not get below 70% and I had to be there to empty the pan. Friends in the Hamptons have a Wave Ventilation system for 15 years so I installed one.  Should have done it long ago.  It quietly exhausts the damp air outside, no buckets.  Company suggests a 55% setting but the controller lets you get down to 20%.  I never tried this; a good question to ask them.  It works by pulling down cooler/drier upstairs air.  I may screw up adding an attachment; if so, google 'Wave Home Solutions Brochure', click the 5th entry 'Wave Home Solutions-Water Air and Energy'

Pay no mind to the snarky (love that word) comments on the net from de-humidifier salesmen. Disclaimer: I am not/never associated in any way to Wave.

Cheers, Jack

 

[Cheese]

So where does the make-up air for the upstairs come from?

 

[Gary in Texas]

About a month ago I bought the Fridgedaire 70 pint/day dehumidifier for my shop.  Being in Houston, stays quite humid. Ran it the first severl days on high as per the instructions and emptied the buck 3 or 4 times daily, basically, 70 pints!  Got tired of emptying the bucket, bought a cheap hose, cut to length and connected that, let it drain outside.  Running it on low now, but really makes a difference in my shop!

 

[jackj]

Reply to Cheese.  Upstairs air will be air-conditioned (cool) or at least dry.  Your question may have to do with air supply...I can only say that our 40 year old place is tight with modern windows and doors.  The Wave has 5 speeds and does not run on high all the time even when first plugged in, no matter the humidity.  In our case it took about 4 weeks to pull moisture out of wood, walls, furniture, masonry.

And to Baremeg.  Daughter's husband did that for his basement office but the de-hum warms the environment. Runs a lot and noticeable in the utility bill but does take out humidity.  My shop might be 240 s/f, de-hum made it too warm for me.

Cheers, Jack

 

[Cheese]

[member=7235]jackj[/member]
That makes sense, I didn't realize you were using AC. So the Wave dumps the moist air in the basement while the make-up air is already air-conditioned and dry from upstairs.

I'm interested because the good news is, I've replaced every window & door in our 60 year old home and it's tight as a drum. The bad news is that moisture retention in the winter is horrific. Tried a portable de-hum and between the noise, inconvenience & increased energy usage it became a PITA.

 

[Sparktrician]

My house has a fully conditioned basement, despite its being unfinished.  The air is the same as the rest of the house, so I don't see the Wave doing me any good.  I also leave low-speed air circulation on 24/7 to prevent stratification.  There's a dehumidifier in the basement that drains right into the deep sink, too.  YMMV... 

 

[jackj]

Cheese:  Now the hard news.  I dithered a couple years because of cost, now I don't give it a second thought.  It just hums along, minding its own beeswax, on a basement wall appx 20' from the stairway.  List price is $1595, I paid $1295 when they had a sale.  They guarantee it for a year, you can return for a full refund...this made me buy. I am John J Casey, Pearl River NY.  Tell them you know me and so forth.  Drew Niederman is my salesman, 800 293 9577, ext 228.

Try and google -  Wave Sensor Control BT  WV-SCBT-3.  This the install manual
                          and Sensor Control BT Operating Instructions Model WV-SCBT-3

They may still put that on the net.  Cheers, Jack