Excess moisture in the house

[Coralgurl]

Im sure there's been a number of threads on this subject already, I'm jus not good at searching....

My daughter pointed out yesterday that we have mold forming on the windows ledges in our kitchen. Checked all the windows and found they all have some. The windows are trimmed in plastic, not wood so easy enough to clean up but now concerned about areas we can't see.

Are there any alternatives to an HRV system to help deal with the moisture in the house from the tanks? Both my tanks are in my living areas - kitchen and former office and can not close them off.

Thanks

[Cal_stir]

dehumidifier

[mark]

what's wrong with a hrv?

[fixerupper]

We had similar problems. Adding a 6" fan to vent moist air helped a little but not nearly enough. Once we installed a glass top and enclosed the stand and sump area the problem disappeared. I ramped up the LEDs by 10% to compensate for light loss, routed a fresh air source to the skimmer and scheduled glass cleaning reminder into my to-do list on Aqua-Planner. Problem solved. As an added bonus, I only need one of my 200W heaters, the drone of the 6" fan is gone (plus the added electrical cost) and the furnace isn't on as much in cold weather.

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

dehumidifier

Will look into, thanks

Originally Posted by mark

what's wrong with a hrv?

Cost

Originally Posted by fixerupper

We had similar problems. Adding a 6" fan to vent moist air helped a little but not nearly enough. Once we installed a glass top and enclosed the stand and sump area the problem disappeared. I ramped up the LEDs by 10% to compensate for light loss, routed a fresh air source to the skimmer and scheduled glass cleaning reminder into my to-do list on Aqua-Planner. Problem solved. As an added bonus, I only need one of my 200W heaters, the drone of the 6" fan is gone (plus the added electrical cost) and the furnace isn't on as much in cold weather.

Do you have problems in the summer with heat in the tank?

[Goatman]

one of those window fans works as well....though not in the winter so much....

Exhaust vent?

lower temp in the house?

Tropical plants....bigger ones.

How is the insulation around the windows?...ie walls



sure it's the tank? you can buy a humidity gauge and check room to room?

[fixerupper]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Will look into, thanks



Cost



Do you have problems in the summer with heat in the tank?

This is one of the advantages of LEDs. We don't have central A/C and there were several days last summer that the tank climbed into the low 80s for a while. During those few days I removed the tops to take advantage of evaporative cooling. It never did get to the point where I had to mount a surface fan. I think if a person lived in a hot climate, had a warm house or used MH lights, the heat trapped by a top would be more of an issue.

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by Goatman

one of those window fans works as well....though not in the winter so much....

Exhaust vent?

lower temp in the house?

Tropical plants....bigger ones.

How is the insulation around the windows?...ie walls



sure it's the tank? you can buy a humidity gauge and check room to room?

Positive it's the tanks, especially since adding the 180 plus sump. House is now 6 years old, we bought new. When temps drop below -10, every window is the house has moisture on them. House temp set at 20 and nope, won't lower till its warmer outside...but even in the summer we get the moisture, we do run the fan which helps.

I kill house plants, it's a definite death sentence for them when I buy so I gave up years ago.

Went out last weekend to look at options to skin the stand, we are working on getting that done.

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by fixerupper

This is one of the advantages of LEDs. We don't have central A/C and there were several days last summer that the tank climbed into the low 80s for a while. During those few days I removed the tops to take advantage of evaporative cooling. It never did get to the point where I had to mount a surface fan. I think if a person lived in a hot climate, had a warm house or used MH lights, the heat trapped by a top would be more of an issue.

I do have LEDs, but even last summer the tank temp rose into the mid 80's during the day (no a/c either). I threw a fan on the sump which did help. Been watching the cover thread and may move to a glass/lexan top for a cover.

I think I will go with skinning the tank to start.

[magikof7]

Since starting my biocube I too have mold in the windows. Plastic casing and the old wood ones, I spray them with a bleach and water solution or Vim spray for bathrooms let it sit for a few mins then wipe it out.
We have been thinking it is time for a dehumidifier as well. It just seems to be winter when we have the problem.

I have the Radion on my tank, I am still topping off up to 2 litres a day.