Air exchangers..

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,

does anyone out there use an air exchanger? any advise /experience on them would be appreciated.


Thanks,
al

Dave Clubine uses one also...I've never noticed any humidity in his fishroom when I've been over there, so they must be pretty effective..

[DenverDan]

O.K. for the terminally uninformed such as myself, what the heck is an Air Exchanger?

Thanks, Dan

[oodi]

Hi Dan,

An air exchanger is sort of like the exhaust fan in bathrooms, only on a bigger scale.

HTH,

Judi

[Jason]

right now I'm just using a window mounted fan hooked up to a humidistat and its blowing heat out the window.

Is there any economical way of air/heat exchanging?, cant affored the jehmco one.

[limige]

hmm cary uses the window fans in his basement window as well, i need to bad but can't afford one yet. anyone know the best place to get such an item?!

as for now i'm letting my window air conditioners do the work.

[henryD]

Limige,

If you need a window fan you can get one pretty cheaply at home depot or some other hardware store. As for air exchanger, I did ask a number of stores here in New Hampshire and no one had a clue. So I guess back to more research and leg work.

[brewmaster15]

Jehmco.com sells air exchangers. The smallest one costs about $1000 from what I have seen.

For me the only time I need it though is summer. In teh fall and winter I have a wood stove that heats the basemnt and dries the air. But for june-sept..the humidity is a killer there. MY dehumidifier works full time but then the room is super hot.

-al

[Discus_KC]

Al,

How many gallons of water do you have going ?

Mrs. Discus_KC has given me permission to get a air exchanger when I get back !!!!! My humidity is bad all year !!!!! And with all those tanks filled, it isn't going to get better !!!!! The mold can be seen on the walls and ceiling, so I have to do something. I look forward to seeing imput in this post !!!!

Jack

[JeffreyRichard]

I have an air exhanger that I bought from Wet Thumb Aquatics about 10 years ago. I really does a good job of exchanging humid air with dryer air, especially in the colder months. However, it does not remove ALL the humidity from a very humid fishroom. I had to shut mine down for several months this past winter to replace the moters ... the room got increadibly wet.

In the summer I find it easier to open the windows and vent the air directly outside using a window fan. Heat is not a consideration.

The function of an air exchanger is to minimize heat loss while exchanging stale interior air with dryer external air. My system is set up so incoming air (cold) flows into a box that captures the heat from the internal outgoing air and in essence transfer this heat to the incoming air. I'm guessing that I get 50-70% efficiency. This is why an air exchanger is really only useful in cold weather. If it's just the summer, vent the old air directly out and pull in fresh air ... temp is not an issue.

[RichieE]

If anyone has used a dehumidifier and switched to an exchanger I would love to hear comparisons. Rich

[CARY_GLdiscus]

Hi Jeff,
Ya Wet thumb did sel them but not anymore! I tryed last year to get one from them But No deal!

Right Now I run two fans on one side blowing in and two fans on the other side sucking out! :P

My hatchery is all finished in green board and pine and supplied with heat. In the winter time it stays nice and cozzy! I just stop the fans from blowing in and keep the ones going that suck out! :P

HTH
Cary Gld!

[brewmaster15]

Hi Jack,
I have about 1000 gal running in that room now, and the near future plans will be to double that. I'm going have water dripping off the walls. Its not a big room.

The room does have too much air flow..Just one small basement window, and I have a fan like cary... but the garage is the other wall on the outside.

-al

[JeffreyRichard]

Humidex sells units ... here is a statement about Humidex vs dehumidifiers. Expense of running is the big thing

http://humidexatlantic.com/beats_dehumidifiers

cary ... are any of those BD's pictured available? I'm looking for a female ...

[LobsterMobster]

I'll state the obvious here; use tight fitting glass lids. As most here are using sponge filters, the water should be adequately oxygenated. I recently did this and it has made a big difference in decreased humidity as well as noise level.

I make my own out of free 1/8" glass from local shops. I get backstrip and hinge from the LFS and I order handles directly from all-glass. Looks and works good.