Its not the most economical thing, but as soon as you can afford, I highly suggest a Venmar air exchanger. Dehumidifies, brings in fresh air, expells stale old air, and exchanges it so you aren't losing hot air out the side of your house and having to reheat cold air coming in. They are about $750 plus install, but again, worth every dime. Our place stays at a constant 40% humidity and I evap about 2" of water out of my 100g sump a day. (although that might be some overskimming too) :)

So, does the solution change if the humidity in the neighbourhood is 97%, as it is where I am, or 83% , as it is in 100 mile house?

Tom

It sounds like your tank needs an umbrella :)

If it is really that humid outside, then your ambient humidity inside will be comparable. If the humidity is that high, you shouldn't have much if any evaporation. You really need to calibrate your humidity meter (hygrometer).

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/m...php?storyid=54

Check it out, 98% now. 90s are typicle in the winter.
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/..._metric_e.html

If your ambient humidity is that high, then the aquarium will have no bearing on the humidity of your home's interior. An aquarium may raise the humidity as much as 5% if your home is poorly ventilated, but hot air hitting poorly insulated cold windows will sweat just as much without the tank.

I installed an HRV
 

The unit has been instaleld for about 1 year -- compared to fan venting the house, I really love it.
The unit I have has a fedw "modes" and I run it 24/7 on low -- and it kicks into high gear if the humidity gets too high.

As for the outside humidity, remember that humidity is a measure of the saturation of the air and depends a lot on the air temp. 100% humidity at -5C is NOT 100% once the air is warmed up, it's more like 25%.

So, in winter, if it is cold outside, you can get your humidity as low as you want.

I installed the HRV because I insulated the crap out of the house and was getting really muggy, high CO2 air. I get much less "lingering" odours, and the house feels "fresher". The lower humidity is just a bonus.

If you acutally run the numbers -- they are one of the cheapest options. I installed mine myself and it cost about $600. Compare this the the added heating/cooling costs with just venting the house, and usually it is cheaper if you live in a cold/hot climate like Kamloops.

A few setups I've seen even just replace the bathroom/kitchen fans with the HRV, and return the air to the living spaces.

I installed an HRV a few years ago. Now I'd never consider not having one (ie., I'll put one in any house I ever live in ... whether I have tanks or not. I like having the HRV *that* much. :lol: ) No really - seriously ... as stated it really is the best option. Not cheap, but you can save a lot by going DIY. Think you can even find HRV's at Home Depot/Rona/etc.

Dehumidifiers are noisy and clunky and only produce a localized effect. They can help a bit though, in a pinch. But they don't hold a candle to an HRV.

I got my Venmar 3000 off of the Homedepot.ca website. They don't carry them instore any longer.

If it is realy that high then you have more problems than your tank. I sugest you put that fan on and set your humidistat for about 45. let it pull in new air and heat it untill your humidity is undercontrol. anything over 50% will suport mold growth and your helth is worth paing a little more on your heating bill. then if it comes down you should look into why it is that high in the first place.. is your bathroon fan/dryer, kitchen fan ect vented outside or just into the attic? do you have enough air exchange in the house?

Steve

ok so to show the effect heating had on relitive humidity here is an example.

the relitive humidity outside in 100 mile house is 78% at 5.5 degrees c, so if you bring that air into the house and heat it to 22 c then the relitive humidity becomes 27% so realy if you ran the fan and brought new heated air in you could drop your humidity pretty quick. the problem starts when us cheep buggers keep the house cold :mrgreen: by dropping the temp 4 degrees to 18 we raise the relitive humidity by almost 10%

Steve