# Dehum, RoBo style



## RoBoTeq

It has been so humid and so cool in Eastern PA that everything in my house is literally wet. The ambient temps have been in the mid to high 60's with rain 12 hours out of every day for the past 5 weeks.

The house is staying at about 68 degrees with nearly 100 percent humidity. My office printer is getting jambed from all of the paper being damp and towels never dry from shower to shower.

Sooooo, I now have my wood stove simmering with some large pieces of wood and have my first floor cooling system turned to 70 degrees. It is drying out very nicely and I no longer feel cold and clammy.

How are others coping with this dampness?


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## Yuri

I have a Simplicity portable de-humidifier for my basement. Has a drain hose for the bucket at back. Leave it set at 40% yr round. Works GREAT. Dehumidifies and heats the air at the same time. Costs less than $300 and prevents mold damage, well worth the $$.


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## RoBoTeq

Ain't no portable dehumidifier going to handle this load:no:

My first floor, 18K Btu system, is emptying it's pint capacity condensate pump resevoir every 4-5 minutes and has been doing so constantly for the past 6 hours. 

It is now a comfortable 74 degrees, whereas this morning it was an uncomfortable 68 degrees. I am no longer sticking to the kitchen's vinyl flooring and my clothes are no longer damp. For the first time in the five years I have lived in this house, the lawn and gardens are covered with all sorts of mushrooms. It has just been one wet two months here.


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## Yuri

Our AC season just started 2 weeks ago. Lots of North America has had a late start this year. Could use some water here for my lawn. An extra 12,000 BTU window shaker may help temporarily.


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## RoBoTeq

Yuri said:


> Our AC season just started 2 weeks ago. Lots of North America has had a late start this year. Could use some water here for my lawn. An extra 12,000 BTU window shaker may help temporarily.


Late start? How about non-start? I don't consider low sixties at night and low seventies with lots of rain during the day the cooling season.

People are still using their "heaters" (Eastern PA talk for anything that heats a home, electric, heat pump, furnace, gas or oil etc.) here.

I have to mow my lawn twice a week and it is always higher then I'd like it to be when I mow. I swear I can stand on my porch and hear the stuff grow. There is a field of some sort of crop behind my house that the farmer has already reaped twice this year.


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## jwhite

If your AC has electric re-heat, and the circuit will not restrict heating and cooling running at the same time, you can purchase a thermostat that will allow your system to dehumidify.

Inexpensive ones are not available for heat pumps, as the program logic is more than a most wall thermostats can handle. But, they are available for streight dx cooling with electric reheat for a couple hundred dollars.


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## jwhite

I should have mentioned that for these thermostats towork, your heating coil must be in the re-heat position. if your heating coil is before the cooling coil they will not work.


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## Yuri

I have the perfect solution for you. A Lennox G71MPP furnace, XC15 air conditioner and their Humiditrol system:http://www.lennox.com/products/overview.asp?model=HD

May need to win the lottery to pay for it but it works great for humid climates. Plus Dave backs it all.


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## RoBoTeq

jwhite said:


> If your AC has electric re-heat, and the circuit will not restrict heating and cooling running at the same time, you can purchase a thermostat that will allow your system to dehumidify.
> 
> Inexpensive ones are not available for heat pumps, as the program logic is more than a most wall thermostats can handle. But, they are available for streight dx cooling with electric reheat for a couple hundred dollars.


My heat pump is on an old oil furnace that I never ran controls to when I installed the heat pump. It got late, and I got lazy:001_unsure:. Since the heat pump handled heating my house down to 32 degrees and my wood stove does a great job of making up the difference below 32 degrees, I never wired in the oil furnace to operate:shifty:


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## RoBoTeq

jwhite said:


> I should have mentioned that for these thermostats towork, your heating coil must be in the re-heat position. if your heating coil is before the cooling coil they will not work.


As would be the case even if my oil furnace was wired to operate:yes:


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## RoBoTeq

Yuri said:


> I have the perfect solution for you. A Lennox G71MPP furnace, XC15 air conditioner and their Humiditrol system:http://www.lennox.com/products/overview.asp?model=HD
> 
> May need to win the lottery to pay for it but it works great for humid climates. Plus Dave backs it all.


Since I get HVAC equipment at greatly reduced prices, I don't think I can be enticed to pay a lot for something that will not work as well as what I am doing:no:

Not to mention that I don't want to operate a fossil fuel furnace and that I could never bring myself to be associated with the ***** looking Lennox guys like Hot:cowboy:


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## Yuri

Aw common, those guys are funnier than the Bryant space guy and others. I think they are clever advertising and make a point. Plus we have service experts Sam with all his pleats in his shirt and pants lined up in a row. Probably doesn't know a left hand wrench from a right but he looks real pretty.


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## RoBoTeq

Yuri said:


> Aw common, those guys are funnier than the Bryant space guy and others. I think they are clever advertising and make a point. Plus we have service experts Sam with all his pleats in his shirt and pants lined up in a row. Probably doesn't know a left hand wrench from a right but he looks real pretty.


If you say so:blink:

You sure your not some kind of a macho-macho man staying at the YMCA until you be in the Navy?:whistling2:


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## Yuri

Nyet, no Ac/Dc stuff in my life.


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## RoBoTeq

I like AC/DC. Well, some of their stuff anyway.

What were we talking about?


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## Badgerman

*You need a whole house dehumidifier*

You need to turn your A/C back you are creating a bigger problem with cooler temps. When you lower the temp to 68 degree (trying to take all of the humidity out with A/C) you are lower the surface temperature of everything in your homw. When surface temps go below the dewpoint, you have moisture. Take a coke out of the fridg and watch what happens, same concept. 

You also need to install a wholehouse dehumidifier. Check out the Ultra-Aire products by Therma-Stor. They work great. I recommend the UA XT 150H. Energy Star and very powerful. 

Once your dehumidifier is installed into your duct work and dehumdifying, you can turn your A/C temps up to 76-78 degrees. With low humidity levels 45-50% and higher temps, your home will be back to normal in no time. You will also be much more comfortable than now.

Trust me - I had the same problem you did.:yes:


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## beenthere

Badgerman said:


> You also need to install a wholehouse dehumidifier. Check out the Ultra-Aire products by Therma-Stor. They work great. I recommend the UA XT 150H. Energy Star and very powerful.
> 
> Once your dehumidifier is installed into your duct work and dehumdifying, you can turn your A/C temps up to 76-78 degrees. With low humidity levels 45-50% and higher temps, your home will be back to normal in no time. You will also be much more comfortable than now.
> 
> Trust me - I had the same problem you did.:yes:


Sonds like you know TB.


Robo gets a discount on Therma-Stors.


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## RoBoTeq

It's true, I can buy a Thermo-stor at cost. I don't think that's the way for me to go though. I agree with not lowering the temperature of the home, so forcing a cooling unit to over ride the temperature setting is not something I would do.

Since the solution to this kind of humidity issue is either to drop the temperature or add heat load, I think the better way to go is to increase heat load. That is what I have done.


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## beenthere

Is Skip in the branch you work out of?


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## RoBoTeq

beenthere said:


> Is Skip in the branch you work out of?


No. He's in Harrisburg. My home branch is the main facility in Mt Joy. I work out of my home and only get to the branch 3 or 4 times a month.


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## beenthere

Ah. I wasn't sure what branch he went o anymore.

thanks.


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## RoBoTeq

OK, broke down and put a window shaker in my washtub to dehumidify the basement. It's been a bit warmer but the rains keep coming and the basement is staying too damp for my central system to keep up.


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