Humidity in the basement!!

[turbonegro]

Summer is around the corner so that means so is the humidity. I'm going on my second summer having my equipment room down in the basement. Last year the humidity was so bad i went out and bought a dehumidifier thinking that would solve the problem, but i was wrong. I want to put some kind of an exhaust fan that I could vent to the outside. The only thing I could find were bathroom exhaust fans at the Home Depot. Is there anything out there that is made just for basements? For all of you that have your equipment room in the basement what are you doing to control the humidity? Thanks Bobby

[turbonegro]

bump

[poppin_fresh]

A good bathroom fan would work, but an air exchange system would work better. The problem with most bathroom fans is that they dont really have the power to overcome how tight new homes are built. An air exchanger overcomes this by drawing in fresh air while it pulls out the bad. You can help the bathroom fan by cracking a window on the other side of the room, but then you always have an open window.

Either one can be hooked up to a humidistat so it kicks on at a certain humidity level.

[Konadog]

Search for "FanTech" fans. They are super quiet, move a bunch of air depending on the model, and one line is made of PVC.

[T Man]

Howdy turbonegro, is the ceiling finished? are there window wells? Vent with a direct drive fan out of a window well. Another thing to think about is, when you exaust air from a room it needs to have make up air. Reason being that the natural draft of the house can be reversed more easily- causing problems such as pilot lights to be blown out and furnace valve lockout or even carbon monoxide poisoning.
I know you saw the bathroom vents, but they are rated for humidity and qiute dependable. Vent it out the sidewall up in the joist space with aluminum flex tubing and terminate on the outside with a common dryer vent outlet. TinMan

http://www.airshack.com/Merchant2/me...Code=BX-Losone

[turbonegro]

Thanks everyone. The ceiling is unfinished and I have a window well. How about an air conditioner would that eliminate the humidity? I will post some pics of the basement when i get home from work. thanks Bobby

[Reefbox]

Blowing the humid air outside is an effecient cheap trick that gets the job done. Just make sure you have fersh air supply. That's how I beat basement humidity.

[turbonegro]

Originally posted by Reefbox
Blowing the humid air outside is an effecient cheap trick that gets the job done. Just make sure you have fersh air supply. That's how I beat basement humidity.

What about when it is really hot and humid outside? Does it make you basement hot?

[okdave]

I had the same problem last year in my basement fishroom. I used a two way window fan which helped but this year I stuck an air conditioner in the window. Today was the really first warm day that you could feel the humidity. Next day like this the air conditioner is getting turned on!

[turbonegro]

I ended up buying an air conditioner from lowes. Today was the first day I had to use it. Whats nice about this unit is the timer and the way it wents out the humidty. I'll post some pics of it tom.


http://webapps.easy2.com/cm2/flash/g...2118&buyhide=1

[steve the plumb]

I had the same problem the portable ac worked great kept the room coll and the humidity under control

[HoopsGuru]

I had another thought, my heat pump is in the same part of my basement as the tank (built into the wall). The air intake is on the first floor but couldn't I open a second hole down in the fish room to draw into the system and distribute it through the rest of the house? There rest of the house is actually pretty dry and I figure the ac would dry most of it out anyway (unfinished basement fish room maxes out at about 45% humidity). My concern was whether it could be a problem drawing in humid air before it goes through the heat pump...possibly aiding to rust or something. I know zip about HVAC.

[120reeferman]

i have a squrell cage fan used for hydroponics that moves alot of air, its 600cfm ill let it go relatively cheap...hit m e up via pm

[noodles9987]

I simply cut an air return into my ventilation duct (because it is exposed in my fish room). The hot air from my chiller and motor gets sucked into the furnace and in this way, I am able to keep things under control. If you went this route, you could also add a blower inside the return if you needed to to drag more of the humid air in. In my case, my furnace is about 5 feet away from my sump/filter, so there is plenty of air drawn in. Total expense was a pair of tin snips and a vent cover.

[turbonegro]

Here are some pics of it installed.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG] [

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[okdave]

Looks good! How is it working? I got my air conditioner on as well today. I'm only about 50 miles East of you.

[turbonegro]

Yesterday was the first day I had to turn it on. It worked very good. When I came home from work the room was cool with no humidity. This might save me from having to buy a chiller. But lets see how it keeps up when it get in the high 90s.

[ChrisB]

Before the a/c unit, what was the average temp in the basement when you were having humidity problems(summertime)?
What is the average expected temp in the basement now that you have added an a/c unit?

I have about 200 gallons now in the basement but it will soon be 700 gallons. I haven't had any problems so far but with the additional water, I am getting concerned.

I am interested in the the whole temperature/humidity relationship. My basement and first floor are on the same central unit. The thermostat is on the first floor and set on 73. The basement averages about 67 year round and dry as a bone. There is tremendous air flow when the unit does kick on. I can't see how adding an a/c window unit would help my cause, but I would be interested in knowing your basement temps, before and after.

Thanks

[dascharisma]

I have seen a couple posts with the advice of blowing the humid air out a window and making sure to have an air supply to make up for the air you blow out. My question concerns the make-up air. Is the vent connected to an air conditioner and furnace enough of an air supply, or is something more needed?

Any one now about thie "Make-up" air?


Brad

[ChrisB]

Great question, I've wondered the same thing.

The humidity outside is in the 70+ plus range here during the spring/summer and almost never lower than in the house.

[aqualab]

Be careful exhausting your air to the outside with a Fanaway type exhaust fan - you can cause a negative pressure effect in the basement which can cause back drafting. That is when the combustion gasses from your gas, oil or propane fueled furnace, hotwater heater and even your dryer through a chimney, vent or flue is in the opposite direction. Result is CO accumulating in the basement/house - which is poisonous and potentially fatal. Radon system or contaminated soil gas sub-slab mitigation system installers perform this back draft test to ensure that the new system is not causing this condition. Just something to be aware of.

[dascharisma]

If you use a fan to blow air out of a humid basement, and your make-up air is coming from outside, couldn't you actually make the basement more humid in the summer months?


Brad