Fighting with low humidity, fan seems to be too strong

[mkono87]

North of TO, I have same issue with humidity. I tried humidifier to no avail. Sitting around 30% and temp around 79 degrees. I just vent outside 4” infinity I figure it will mean I just have to water more. I tired buckets of water and that doesn’t work. It’s hard because it’s getting colder now and furnace is basically running all the time.

I'm also north of Toronto. Just passed Orillia. It's a struggle for sure.

 

[Bud]

Fan voltage dimmers they work. But I would recommend a different fan that’s adjustable.
Dimmers are dangerous hooked to a fan no made for it. IMO

 

[BooMtoLate]

Really you can put exhaust fan on timer?

 

[BooMtoLate]

Really you can put exhaust fan on timer?

Lol you said dimmer not timer

 

[TurboBucket]

Fan voltage dimmers they work. But I would recommend a different fan that’s adjustable.
Dimmers are dangerous hooked to a fan no made for it. IMO

He already stated multiple times the fan is on the lowest fan speed. Lmao.

I'm also north of Toronto. Just passed Orillia. It's a struggle for sure.

So I've said this hundreds of times already but I'll repeat it one more time. There is no reason to vent outside in the winter.

Your struggling to maintain humidity and running heat sources to maintain temp, yet you continue to blow air outside that would help with conditioning your indoor air.

All of the air you blow outside has already been conditioned. Your replacing that air with outside air. Why dump air that you can use to replace it with something your going to have to pay to heat and humidify?

For the record I work as a commercial hvacr technician in Michigan. I'm familiar with your climate and have worked on countless applications involving exactly this.

Your literally blowing $$ out the vent.

 

[Bud]

Yes u can put a timer on it but I prefer to slow the exaust so the air flow continues 24/7. And the smell leaves as well. I recommend a adjustable fan that can b turned down slower than what’s being used now. Or y can reduce opening size, that would make the fan work harder imo
Growers luv

 

[BooMtoLate]

So if I’m blowing air outside and have vents open in tent sucking air from basement.... is that wrong?

 

[BooMtoLate]

I’m used to outdoor grows, this is my first attempt inside.

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

My greenhouse up here in the high plains is always very low @<30%RH and >90F. I have an 18' oscillating fan and keeping the air moving helps. Better too dry than too moist. Think of where some of the best strains come from and the climate there. It's a weed!

 

[mkono87]

He already stated multiple times the fan is on the lowest fan speed. Lmao.





So I've said this hundreds of times already but I'll repeat it one more time. There is no reason to vent outside in the winter.

Your struggling to maintain humidity and running heat sources to maintain temp, yet you continue to blow air outside that would help with conditioning your indoor air.

All of the air you blow outside has already been conditioned. Your replacing that air with outside air. Why dump air that you can use to replace it with something your going to have to pay to heat and humidify?

For the record I work as a commercial hvacr technician in Michigan. I'm familiar with your climate and have worked on countless applications involving exactly this.

Your literally blowing $$ out the vent.

I guess I worried that it wouos get too hot in that room and in turn make the tent hotter and hotter over time but it's worth a shot.

So if I’m blowing air outside and have vents open in tent sucking air from basement.... is that wrong?

Exactly what I'm doing now.

 

[BooMtoLate]

My thinking if your house is at 30 rh and tent is 30 exchanging the air into house wouldn’t do anything other then add more heat. I think as the plants get bigger they will transpire more and raise humidity.

 

[mkono87]

My thinking if your house is at 30 rh and tent is 30 exchanging the air into house wouldn’t do anything other then add more heat. I think as the plants get bigger they will transpire more and raise humidity.

Oh yeah I thought of that. It's in a small room beside the furnace and I usually have the door closed anyways to make it quieter in the basement overall so maybe it would be bad. I think il try it for a day and report back.

 

[TurboBucket]

So if I’m blowing air outside and have vents open in tent sucking air from basement.... is that wrong?

All the air you blow outside has to be replaced by outside air coming into the house. That's just physics, Plain and simple.

Your sabotaging your indoor environment, which in turn makes your tent environment worse. It's like leaving a window open. Your also wasting money in the process.

Air moves from high pressure to low pressure. When you suck air out that creates a low pressure area. Your turning your house into a low pressure area by sucking the air out of it.

Newer homes are designed to run with a slightly positive pressure so that your leaking conditioned air out rather than leaking cold air in. They do this with a dedicated fresh air run connected from outside to the furnace return air trunk (typically 4-8 inch duct depending on the size of the house and the number of exhaust fans (bath fans, kitchen hoods,etc)
Everytime the furnace blower runs it sucks in outside air, mixes it with the rest of the return air from the house, passes it across the heat exchanger and blows it through the house back into the rooms via the supply duct.

This pressurizes the house like blowing up a balloon. If the house is not sealed well it leaks out faster. The more doors that are opened the faster it leaks out. It eventually drops back to negative and the air then starts infiltrating until the temp inside gets too cold, the furnace runs and and builds the pressure back up again.

Older homes don't use a fresh air intake. They rely on the pressure difference of heated air vs cold air to maintain temp, that's why they tend to be colder around windows, doors and exterior walls than newer homes. The air has to infiltrate far enough to drop the temp so the furnace will cycle again.

The same concepts apply to hydronic heating as well they just use a different heat source and most use no forced air.

 

[TurboBucket]

My thinking if your house is at 30 rh and tent is 30 exchanging the air into house wouldn’t do anything other then add more heat. I think as the plants get bigger they will transpire more and raise humidity.

Your almost there. It's going to keep all the heat and humidity inside, it will help raise the Rh in the house and offset heating costs.

 

[mkono87]

Your almost there. It's going to keep all the heat and humidity inside, it will help raise the Rh in the house and offset heating costs.

Well i just disconnected the vent to the outside so its blowing back into the room. I keep an eye every few hours and see what happens. I have a carbon filter (not attached yet) and hopefully its strong enough for the smell

 

[TurboBucket]

For a recirculating scrub which you have now. Two air changes per hour is usually adequate. For a single pass scrub four air exchanges per hour is recommended.

The fewer air changes you have the longer the air is exposed to odor more odor in the air. Because it's recirculating the odor doesn't have to be removed first pass you can use a slower fan speed.

 

[Edzzed]

I use the bucket and towel too, My bucket has a water pump in it that is run off a timer. Every two hours it runs for 5 minutes soaking a towel that is hung by a clothes hangar. It is a photocell timer so only runs during lights on. I vent directly outside but it is in a bedroom I sleep in. I like a cold room. -10 would be ok with me. (waterbed) lol I also have a heater in my tent. My fan is 4 inch but I run two inline. One being controlld by temps other by humidity. Rather than posting a lot of pics (hard to find on phone) read up on my first grow below in sig.

 

[Bud]

For a recirculating scrub which you have now. Two air changes per hour is usually adequate. For a single pass scrub four air exchanges per hour is recommended.

The fewer air changes you have the longer the air is exposed to odor more odor in the air. Because it's recirculating the odor doesn't have to be removed first pass you can use a slower fan speed.

Or u can get just get a fan with a build in speed controller and adjust. Just spitballing.

 

[TurboBucket]

Or u can get just get a fan with a build in speed controller and adjust. Just spitballing.

For the fifth (5) time now. He has a variable speed fan. Lmao. Feel like I'm getting trolled here

 

[mkono87]

Or u can get just get a fan with a build in speed controller and adjust. Just spitballing.

Mine does and is on the lowest. I'd consider returning it for one that could go slower but it came with the carbon filter and would have to return both.