Howdy,
I have been researching starting up my own little hydroponics test area. I am hoping to eventually fill up as much of a 2' by 6' area of my kitchen as possible. I still have a few issues to work out but one thing I am having some real trouble with is getting a handle on humidity issues.
I plan to enclose the area where I actually grow in some insulating foam with mylar, I figure that allow me to control the temperature and humidity where the plants are. I was half planning on using a thermostat and fans to exchange air with my kitchen as needed. I did not account for the humidity dumped into the kitchen though, nor the humidity from having my reservoir in the kitchen. I am a bit nervous about how much humidity I need to plan for and if it will reach problematic levels.
I am in NH which has fairly cold dry winters, but it gets a bit muggy in the summer. I have a window AC unit running in the room next to the kitchen so that will help dry out the air some...I just am not sure if this is something I need to be concerned about or not. I figure I could get a dehumidifier if it becomes a real problem, but that would be a significant cost to introduce to a system I am hoping to build inexpensively. If anyone has any thoughts about it, advice, or could comment on how that works for them I would appreciate it. Thanks!
Welcome to HG tapar! Humidity is not something you'll need to be overly concerned with for the size of system your planning. If your going to enclose the area then your biggest issue will be heat and you'll need to focus on that. The air exchanged to control the heat will take care of any humidity issues.
I've got a total capacity of about 170 gallons of water in my grow room, it's a 12 x 12 spare bedroom in my house. I use digital meters and the humidity in that room is 2% higher than the rest of the house. Air circulation is the key. It controls temps, CO2 and humidity.
hydroguy
I've got a total capacity of about 170 gallons of water in my grow room, it's a 12 x 12 spare bedroom in my house. I use digital meters and the humidity in that room is 2% higher than the rest of the house. Air circulation is the key. It controls temps, CO2 and humidity.
hydroguy
Thanks, that makes me feel much less concerned. I was not so worried about the plants humidity, more the humidity added to the apartment from so much water being in the room. I have a fairly big kitchen so the exchanged air from the plant area and the unenclosed reservoir area has some room to dissipate.
I have not fully planned out what I want to accomplish yet, but dealing with airflow is definitely on the list. I was just concerned because too much humidity being dumped into the kitchen could make the project a non starter, or at least less viable in my rented apartment.
Temperature I feel like I have a handle on. I keep my apartment as close to 65 as I can. It gets warmer in the kitchen on hot days, and cooler on really cold days in the winter. I am counting on a certain amount of heat from the lamps so I won't have to add heaters. Managing the airflow is going to be key there too.
I was more concerned about the humidity because I was less sure how to dehumidify the air inexpensively if it became required. Adding more humidity seems easy so I wasn't worried about that. I am way less nervous about it now though because in my search for answers I read about salt dehumidifiers and think I could resolve things via that method if it came down to it.
It also really helped hearing that you have 170 gallons and your humidity only went up 2%. I expect to have much less that that so I should have no problems. Thanks!!
I have not fully planned out what I want to accomplish yet, but dealing with airflow is definitely on the list. I was just concerned because too much humidity being dumped into the kitchen could make the project a non starter, or at least less viable in my rented apartment.
Temperature I feel like I have a handle on. I keep my apartment as close to 65 as I can. It gets warmer in the kitchen on hot days, and cooler on really cold days in the winter. I am counting on a certain amount of heat from the lamps so I won't have to add heaters. Managing the airflow is going to be key there too.
I was more concerned about the humidity because I was less sure how to dehumidify the air inexpensively if it became required. Adding more humidity seems easy so I wasn't worried about that. I am way less nervous about it now though because in my search for answers I read about salt dehumidifiers and think I could resolve things via that method if it came down to it.
It also really helped hearing that you have 170 gallons and your humidity only went up 2%. I expect to have much less that that so I should have no problems. Thanks!!