Humidity problem

[Pugwinkle]

Hi, we built a 1000 square foot addition onto my parents home this past year. The main level of the addition is about 1000 square feet and the basement is about 900 square feet.

We have electric heat and a woodstove which we just started up yesterday. We have been having a lot of problems with mould on the windows and doors. Now the windows are getting so much water on them that they are freezing shut. We can longer open our sliding door since it's frozen shut as well.

I have 1-65 gallon, 1-29 gallon, 1-20 gallon, 2-10 gallon tanks & 1-5 gallon tank set up in the addition. My husband is getting really upset about the humidity problem that he feels is being created due to all the fish tanks. We have a de-humdifier running pretty much non stop but even that doesn't seem to be helping. Does anyone have any advice for me. I cannot move any of the tanks to the basement because we don't have any running water down there and it would be a lot of work at water change time to lug buckets of water up and down the stairs. I hope someone can help!

 

[TankGirl]

I can almost promise you that these humidity problems are not coming from your tanks. Your average house can handle that much evaporation, no problem. I believe there is a much more serious water drainage isssue beneath the addition, related to the basement. Around here, basements=moisture and many require sumps, even.

I'd get a moisture control company to come out and inspect the property and advise you on how to handle this issue, and I would not delay. If there is enough moisture to cause mold on the windows and doors, and windows are freezing shut, it is going to be a health concern.

Good luck!

 

[TomK2]

Well, you would need a pretty large dehumidifier for 1000 square feet. Perhaps the one you have is not big enough. You can buy a cheap humidity guage. I don't think you can expect to get the humidity below 35-40% with a dehumidifier in the summer, but if you have forced hot air heat in the winter humidity can get down to 20% with no dehumidifier. You have electric heat, so perhaps you still need the dehumidifier. Get a guage and check it out.

I suspect that you also have a window problem. Double pane glass windows don't get condensation on them unless the seals are broken. Might you also have poor air circulation? Oh, and I presume you have your tanks covered as tightly as possible? What part of the country are you in, my heat has been on a couple of months already!

 

[TomK2]

I can almost promise you that these humidity problems are not coming from your tanks. Your average house can handle that much evaporation, no problem. I believe there is a much more serious water drainage isssue beneath the addition, related to the basement. Around here, basements=moisture and many require sumps, even.

Good point Tank Girl! I just checked my guage, I have 20% humidity in a 12 by 14 foot room with a 55 gal tank in it. It is low because of forced hot air heat in winter, a tank can't evaporate enough to change this. When I think of rooms that are"steamy", all that comes to mind are pool rooms at hotels and rooms with air circulation problems. And if there is a lot of moisture trapped because of poor drainage and air circulation... wow. I was suspicious of the windows, but now that I think of it, I can't explain the frozen door. I think you are right- the problem will be there tanks or no tanks. Bettter drainage or vintillation is needed.

I would really love to hear the answer to this one when you get it solved!

 

[gfink]

On a side note...I walked into my lfs today. It was about 15°F outside. ALL of the windows to the store were dripping wet like a bathroom mirror after a hot shower. Then again they have so many running tanks, it is hard to walk in there. 8)

 

[youronlysin]

Whats the weather like? Are the windows double pane glass? How old is the home?
Remember, when its cold outside, inefficient windows will frost up and show condensation often. It doesnt have to be overly humid in the house to do this.
With electric heat and a woodstove, the air should be incredibly dry. I have a hard time believing that the humidity is coming from the tanks as well, but you can monitor the evaporation rate from each tank for a while. Put a hygrometer in the same room with all the tanks and see if its drastically more humid there than anywhere else in the home. You only have 139 gallons of water in all of those tanks...unless you kept them extremely warm I wouldnt think that they would raise the humidity drastically.

If your home was efficient, the windows wouldnt give you those problems, even with higher humidity levels in the house.

 

[QTOFFER]

With electric heat and a woodstove, I would expect you to be having problems with too little humidity. I think your problem probably has to do with the windows and sliding door themselves if they are made of single pane glass. If this is the case, you could insulate them to prevent condensation from building up on the inside during winter, and on the outside during summer. Your local hardware store should sell a clear plastic film that you apply to the window with a hairdryer - it works very well.

Also, do you have lids on the tanks? That will cut down on any evaporation.

 

[Pugwinkle]

Whats the weather like? Are the windows double pane glass? How old is the home?
Remember, when its cold outside, inefficient windows will frost up and show condensation often. It doesnt have to be overly humid in the house to do this.
With electric heat and a woodstove, the air should be incredibly dry. I have a hard time believing that the humidity is coming from the tanks as well, but you can monitor the evaporation rate from each tank for a while. Put a hygrometer in the same room with all the tanks and see if its drastically more humid there than anywhere else in the home. You only have 139 gallons of water in all of those tanks...unless you kept them extremely warm I wouldnt think that they would raise the humidity drastically.

If your home was efficient, the windows wouldnt give you those problems, even with higher humidity levels in the house.

The weather here hasn't really been that cold as yet. As a matter of fact, we just started the woodstove for the first time this past weekend. We just built this addition so the windows are all brand new double paned windows.

And to answer the next persons question, yes all tanks have lids.

 

[Rocket2001]

I was thinking in the same direction as QTOFFER...to make your husband feel better about the tanks and eliminate them as a possible source of the problem..make sure you have lids that cover as much of the tops of the tanks as possible....the glass tops with plastic spacers are IMO the best to "seal"up the tops of the tank