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High Humidity in the house... (1 Viewer)

RJREEFER

RJREEFER

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Jun 9, 2010
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Shakopee, MN
Ok, so naturally speaking, a 75gallon reef tank sitting in my dining room is going to give off some moisture. Ever since the cold has hit, all of my windows downstairs are dripping and my windows upstairs are fogging up.

Is the tank really causing all of this? My house wasn't this way last year prior to setting up the reef. What should I do? I considered a dehumidifier...I set the program on the heat / fan to run in a refresh mode so more air would circulate. I also turned the ceiling fans on low drawing air upwards. This hasn't made any dent.

It almost seems like there is no fresh air circulating in my home...but this is a brand new townhome so I can't imagine there isn't any fresh air?!?!?!? I dunno guys...wutcha think?
 
My home is doing the same thigh.
But the difference or mu 120 is down on the basement so all my windows are dropping wet and my upper section as well
 
I wonder if temperature has anything to do with it. My 65 is in the basement and it's rather chilly down there compared to upstairs, but never suffer from condensation on windows.
 
I got off the phone with my builder and he said that newer homes are built to be so sealed off from the elements that you manually have to remove excess humidity from your home on a daily basis if it becomes a problem. He has the same issue as he runs a FO in his family room. Recommends running the bathroom vent fans in the home for at least an hour twice a day to remove the excess moisture. I'll give that a try before resorting to more drastic dehumidifiers! My electric bill is already creeping up there...
 
Colder temps usually result in collection of condensation. I would assum that since its in your basement, any excess moisture would stay down there being that it's the coldest part of the home. Just my thoughts...who knows lol...
 
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i got the same thing going on with my 180. never had an issue with the 72 though. My windows are covered. Make sure you wipe the windows off daily so you dont create a mold issue. Also open a door for about 20 min a day so you can have air exchange. you can even run a fan pointing outside to push the moisture out. Nothing like heating the outdoors. Also what temp is your tank? The lower it is the less evoporation you will get. Any little bit helps.
 
Run the dehumidifier, its cheaper in the long run. Imagine what all that moisture will do to your homes. There have been members that have had serious damage due to not dealing with humidity caused from reef tanks.
 
yeah, I think its basically like this...

if you have a high temp (room temp) indoors, and its cold outside, adding mositure to the air will cause it to condense on the glass.
In a basement, where its cooler, the chances of condensation go down becuase (correct me if i'm wrong here, this is kind of an educated guess) the temp downstairs would be below the dew point of your house, therefore the water in the air stays a gas.

one thing this makes me think about though, is that condensation on windows would typically mean that they're not the best quality windows , and are transferring too much heat (heat is flowing out of your house faster). With a good quality double pane window, I think condensation is somewhat eliminated becuase the inside glass stays the same temp as the inside of your house, while the outside glass stays the outside temp, and the air (or they might use nitrogen or something between them, can't remember) between the panes prevents heat transfer from happening so readily.
 
re-fin-away said:
i got the same thing going on with my 180. never had an issue with the 72 though. My windows are covered. Make sure you wipe the windows off daily so you dont create a mold issue. Also open a door for about 20 min a day so you can have air exchange. you can even run a fan pointing outside to push the moisture out. Nothing like heating the outdoors. Also what temp is your tank? The lower it is the less evoporation you will get. Any little bit helps.
Click to expand...
Tank is 75, house stays between 68-70...
 
redeclipse6049 said:
yeah, I think its basically like this...

if you have a high temp (room temp) indoors, and its cold outside, adding mositure to the air will cause it to condense on the glass.
In a basement, where its cooler, the chances of condensation go down becuase (correct me if i'm wrong here, this is kind of an educated guess) the temp downstairs would be below the dew point of your house, therefore the water in the air stays a gas.

one thing this makes me think about though, is that condensation on windows would typically mean that they're not the best quality windows , and are transferring too much heat (heat is flowing out of your house faster). With a good quality double pane window, I think condensation is somewhat eliminated becuase the inside glass stays the same temp as the inside of your house, while the outside glass stays the outside temp, and the air (or they might use nitrogen or something between them, can't remember) between the panes prevents heat transfer from happening so readily.
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Double pane, argon filled, Low E windows are all throughout my home. I would hope the builder didn't put in cheap ones lol... However, he said he also has the same issue in his own home running his large FO tank.
 
RJREEFER said:
Double pane, argon filled, Low E windows are all throughout my home. I would hope the builder didn't put in cheap ones lol... However, he said he also has the same issue in his own home running his large FO tank.
Click to expand...

yeah, i mean, that SOUNDS like they should be just fine then... Probably more an issue of just too much moisture (unless your windows are leaking or something and letting cold air in around them..)

seemed like the general consensus (from the first two links i clicked on google Lol) is to run the bathroom fans though, or do the dehumidifier....


Or, you could always just buy a bunch of new shoes and beef jerky, and return them without the silica packets..;)
 
"Or, you could always just buy a bunch of new shoes, and return them without the silica packets.."

I like where this is going :beerchug:
 
if it is a new home you also have the issue of the concrete releasing moisture as well. Talk to the builder about a air exchanger sometimes they will give you a deal on them. I remember when I sold windows they would have this issue with hot tubs and that would fully eliminate the issue. Also the better the window believe it or not the more moisture will build up on the glass because of the temp difference on the inside pane and outside pane will be greater.
 
re-fin-away said:
if it is a new home you also have the issue of the concrete releasing moisture as well. Talk to the builder about a air exchanger sometimes they will give you a deal on them. I remember when I sold windows they would have this issue with hot tubs and that would fully eliminate the issue. Also the better the window believe it or not the more moisture will build up on the glass because of the temp difference on the inside pane and outside pane will be greater.
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I had made the assumption that we had an air exchanger in the home that would take care of this. However, HVAC is not my best subject and we do not have one. My builder is hinting at getting soemthing like this installed for us if the venting doesn't fix the issue. I'll give this a day or two to see what happens...
 
Your entire house needs to dry out (from new construction) and then you have the added tank humidity. I'd almost run the bathroom fans all day for a few days to get most of the moisture out then maybe see if you can get them on an auto timer to run for an hour or two after your morning shower.
 
trust me the venting won't solve the problem. It will get warmer in a few days look a little better then in january you will have the issue all over again. rag on the builder now he will make you happy.
 
re-fin-away said:
if it is a new home you also have the issue of the concrete releasing moisture as well. Talk to the builder about a air exchanger sometimes they will give you a deal on them. I remember when I sold windows they would have this issue with hot tubs and that would fully eliminate the issue. Also the better the window believe it or not the more moisture will build up on the glass because of the temp difference on the inside pane and outside pane will be greater.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to claim to know much about this becuase i'm an engineer, not a homebuilder, but I'm just curious (for my own knowledge if nothing else) why a better window would cause more condensation. Isn't the point of having good windows with a nice argon space between them to keep heat transfer as low as possible between the panes, i.e. keeping the inside pane the same temp as the room, while the outside pane stays the same temp as outdoors without the two influencing each other's temp by enough to cause issues (like condensation) ? I'm speaking more from just what i've learned in thermodynamics and heat transfer/fluid flow classes though, so I'm just curious how this works.
For example, a cheap single pane window (in my car lets say) cools down to outside temp at night , and when I run the heat, and breathe (letting moisture into the air) the windows fog up, which i assumed was because the inside of the glass is cold and STAYS cold because there's nothing stopping the transfer of heat from occuring readily
 
i thought all new homes built .had to have a air exchange unit installed.i might be wrong but i thought that was code now.i not sure if that's state wide or from city to city .
 
two years ago I scored a sweet dehumidifier on K-bid for 20$. it was new in box, and worth 300$ new online.

I have it still, and it's running right next to my bed. dead silent and very powerful. pulls about 2 gallons/day at least.

I also have about 100-150 gallons of water in my room too. plus a fogger for the treefrog.
 
I think that's the plan...(rag on the builder) but he asked me to try this out first. I don't have high hopes...
 
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