High humidity

11 years ago

Hi I'm one of the lurkers that enjoys checking out the forum without making comments so I hope no one minds if I ask a question. We have a humidity problem in our house. Our humidity is at 70% due to my two shelves on which I have about 200 AVs growing. I work hard to keep the humidity up around them but this winter I am finding a lot of condensation on our windows. DH is concerned that it will damage our window casings. Any suggestions? I am wondering about purchasing a dehumidifier but wonder how big a one I need. We are in a cold climate.
Thanks for any help.

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Comments (7)

fortyseven_gw
11 years ago
It is wonderful to know that you have been reading the posts !!! Please do join in the discussions . Those with more experience in cold climates will advise you . However , my non-expert opinion is that you can cut back quite a bit on humidity. Especially if you keep your house on the cool side. You can also use the search topic feature at the top of the page. Enter the word " humidity" and click. " search this forum only " to get older discussions from archives on your topic . Joanne
gardenbear1
11 years ago
I'm still some what new at growing AV but do grow lots of orchids and need the humidity around 70%, my orchids love it and my AV do too they just keep blooming, I use a ceiling fan to move the air around and don't get condensation on the windows. I hope this helps

Bear
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Karin
11 years ago
When I was a kid, my dad built a house, and apparently the lumber wasn't quite dried enough. That winter the condensation was pretty bad. We had a dehumidifier in the middle of the house, which was going constantly. It reduced the condensation by about half. One thing we tried and that worked, was placing a string along the bottom of the window, where the condensation was, and letting it dangle into a container on the window sill. It would fill up in a week or so, and kept most of the moisture from building up.

The other, more expensive solution would be to get better insulated windows ;-) or ones with enough cracks to let the air whistle through :-p

Karin
fortyseven_gw
11 years ago
Fascinating info, Karin
wendycoo
Original Author
11 years ago
Interesting Karen. We did purchase a dehumidifier and it is gradually lowering the humidity in the house. We put in new windows and doors and siding last year and that has sealed up the house. With an outdoor humidity of 80% and temperatures around -25C we have a problem that isn't all related to my plants. A work in progress to figure out what to do.
wendycoo
Original Author
11 years ago
Interesting Karen. We did purchase a dehumidifier and it is gradually lowering the humidity in the house. We put in new windows and doors and siding last year and that has sealed up the house. With an outdoor humidity of 80% and temperatures around -25C we have a problem that isn't all related to my plants. A work in progress to figure out what to do.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
condensation happens when moist warm air hits the cold window ...

put in a fan.. and keep the air moving ... and you will HELP reduce condensation ...

part of your problem.. and mine back when ... is that.. the air is only moved when the furnace runs... and though it SEEMS like it is running all the time.. it isnt ...

think about it.. all greenhouses have fans ...

its not the solution;. but it will help ...

ken