Dehumidifier suggestions?

[FinestKind]

Hey everyone,

So, I need a new dehuey. I've gone through two already- both recommended by Consumer Reports and by consumersearch.com. This in less than two years. The first one was a 50-pint jobber, which just didn't do the trick for my space. The second was/is a 70 pint model, a Frigidaire model, which isn't doing the trick either. I think it's just "worn out"- it doesn't seem to remove the moisture it used to, and the digital humidity settings are way off- though they were fine in the beginning. I have a EVC-1, but that's FUBAR, too... I really just want a reliable dehumidifier that does it's job.

Both of these were under $250. I am willing to spend a bit more, but I'd like to keep it reasonable... my space is 8'x16'x6'... really I want something durable... suggestions?

FK

 

[djstiks]

i'm using a danby 60 pint and keeps it within range 5% of setting. i believe i paid like $240

 

[Hold Your Fire]

Holy shinto' bro'!!! I love Smuttynose IPA!!!!! Drinking some tonight.(again)
Sorry I cannot be of much help with the dehuey?
Nice to see another craft beer drinker!
Good luck!

 

[Marshall]

I had an LG 65 pint unit that ran great in a 10KW op for 18 months, and was recently called off the bench back to active duty. My op was perpetual so to be fair its not like the room was completely full of flowering plants

Santa Fe's work good too but those are more money

 

[overbudjet]

Honeywell 65 pint solid as a rock so far(new room )

 

[GrowGeek]

I have an LG in the veg room and a sante fe in the flower room. both work quite well.

 

[FinestKind]

Let's see the votes so far...

2 for LG
2 for Santa Fe
1 for Honeywell
1 for Danby.

Nothing conclusive yet... any more?

 

[sanjuan]

The consumer-level dehumidifiers seem to be even worse than window air conditioners for the past couple of years (which is pretty bad--race to the bottom).

I recently bought a 50 pint GE which seemed to have the best user reviews BUT it is the Walmart model number, so I dunno . . . (haven't used it yet).

 

[FinestKind]

Huh, so I should probably just suck it up and get a window A/C and modify a wall in my room to act as a "window"? Well, next summer anyway- I certainly don't need any cooling for the winter months in northern New England.

 

[Kcar]

Loving my Soleus. Quiet.

 

[Marshall]

Huh, so I should probably just suck it up and get a window A/C and modify a wall in my room to act as a "window"? Well, next summer anyway- I certainly don't need any cooling for the winter months in northern New England.

NO. While an AC can dehumidify it wont take the place of a DH in a decent size grow.

As far as customer reviews on websites, I doubt those people are growing weed.

Buy a good DH and keep the receipt

 

[Phillthy]

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

i use it and love it.

 

[purplesupremacy]

I don't know about you, Marshall, but I've used a window A/C unit (sitting over a drain pan / bucket) more than once for dehumidifying needs. It's not ideal, though.

 

[Marshall]

they will dehumidify no doubt. Anyone who has one in their house and has it draining to a bucket knows that.

But like you said it is not ideal and may not get you to the proper temp or RH level you want.

What happens if the AC is set to 85 in a CO2 room and the room is at 85 but RH is at 80% at full bloom? It would be by luck that you would get the exact temp and RH you want. Something has to give.



The OP has a 8x16x6 space so I assume he has a few lights in there. IMO it would be best to get a separate DH and control temps and RH individually

 

[purplesupremacy]

they will dehumidify no doubt. Anyone who has one in their house and has it draining to a bucket knows that.

Well, I'm talking about the entire unit sitting in the room, both evaporator and condenser sides.

Not "everyone" knows this but a window A/C is more or less the same thing as a consumer portable dehumidifier, with parts mounted in a slightly different physical orientation.

But like you said it is not ideal and may not get you to the proper temp or RH level you want.

No, I actually meant it's not ideal in that it's a pain in the ass to maneuver around, or hang, or set up drain, or whatever.

What happens if the AC is set to 85 in a CO2 room and the room is at 85 but RH is at 80% at full bloom? It would be by luck that you would get the exact temp and RH you want. Something has to give.

Gee I don't know, the same thing that would happen with a typical dehumidifier unit?

Put it on a dehumidistat / environmental controller as you normally would in a sealed room.

Something would give... like your A/C cycling more often (or with inverter units, at higher power).

The OP has a 8x16x6 space so I assume he has a few lights in there. IMO it would be best to get a separate DH and control temps and RH individually

If you want a nice unit and can afford one, look for an LGR (low grain refrigerant) unit, preferably an efficient one w/ a pre-cooler (Santa Fe, Phoenix, Ebac). Home Depot sells the Williams Air Sponge (130ppd@AHAM) for $1k but these run a bit less efficient and hotter and a little more involved to set up (wiring, as well as ducting as the out-of-box orientation isn't terribly useful for most grow applications), not to mention it doesn't come with wheels and isn't meant to be portable. Also I could be wrong but I don't think it is LGR, and is a bit less efficient (no precooler, simple nylon mesh filter) and IME puts out more heat than other units. In a way a "hot" dehumidifier isn't necessarily automatically a terrible thing: if you have an over-sized A/C that can handle the extra heat, it will force the A/C to put out more dehumidifying capacity. Less efficient on the power bill, obviously.

There's your answer. Just make sure you have $1300-$2500 in your budget for a decent LGR unit, though.

 

[purplesupremacy]

By the way, I call shenanigans on running a single 65 pint unit to successfully control humidity in a 10kw room. At least, with any canopy worth talking about.

And if you can't afford a Santa Fe or better by the time you're running 10kw, you're probably doing something wrong.

 

[Teeg420]

Haha^ some people just don't know how to budget their money between banging strippers and sleeping in and playing golf all day the money goes fast!

Yea those lg and danby are not industrial units, I don't think they are made to handle the workload we put them through.

Kind of like comparing nutrient chillers vs the chill kings or some other chiller that is comparable.

I have an lg 65 pint, loud, puts out quite a bit of heat, it was cheap and didn't have the funds to blow on a santa fe.

 

[Marshall]

I am not going to state all the details as I have a new name for a reason. Perpetual SOG, just under 2# per 1000 with no special strain. I ran a 24K BTU AC and LG DH and kept RH around 50%

I have also run Santa Fe's, several of them actually.



Answer this:

room is 85 degrees, and RH is 80%. How do you lower RH without lowering room temp through an AC?

You cant


You use the DH to maintain RH

You use the AC to maintain room temp

 

[dybert]

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

i use it and love it.

I use 2 of these in my grow, and they both work great. (Since he didn't mention the name, its the LG 65 pint)

NOTE: I modified the buckets in them to hold an HVAC condensate pump so that my water is automatically pumped out into a Rez in another room.

 

[purplesupremacy]

I use 2 of these in my grow, and they both work great. (Since he didn't mention the name, its the LG 65 pint)

You must have either a 20kw grow or 0% RH after turning the 2nd unit on...