Resevior with Dehumidifier?

[Axiom]

Does using a dehumidifier in a flood drain style set up with a huge reservoir make sense? Won't it just evaporate the water from the res and make the EC go up?

Couldn't find much info from searching on the old big brother.

 

Also, can the water then be added back to a res? or used to make a new res? Saves a lot of walking trips over the long run I guess.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Axiom

[Shumroom]

You could run the exit pipe from the dehumidifier straight back into your reservoir,

but this will continually dilute your nutrients so you’ll need to account for that  

 

Atb

 

 

 

[Axiom]

I guess I just want to know to what extent the res would be affected, I guess covering the res with a board of some kind and having holes for pipes would make the exposed surface area less and thus evaporation less.  I guess the only real way I will know is to try it. 

[Flamedodger]

Be careful the dehumidifier doesn’t push your temps too high. I use the water from my dehumidifier in my soil pots all the time 

[GreenVision]

It shouldn't affect the res too much at all IME.

 

Most res tanks come with a lid of some kind, but even without a lid a dehumidifier wont drain a noticable amount of water from it before the actual system uses it to water your plants.

 

Even in a large grow tent / area the dehumidifer has its limits, and it pull moisture from the air, so the res should be fine.

 

If it makes you feel better by all means test your EC and water levels a few times a day but I really dont think adding a dehumidifier to a hydro room will affect your water at all. If a dehumidifier could draw water direct from a res imagine what they'd do to a pot of soil you'd need to water 4 times a day.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by GreenVision

[The Green Manalishi]

A dehumidifier pulls moisture from the air not the res 

[Saddam]

4 hours ago, Shumroom said:

You could run the exit pipe from the dehumidifier straight back into your reservoir

 

 The condensate from dehumidifiers can be very unsanitary and could introduce nasty bacterium, dirt, and even heavy metals into the res. You can use it to water plants, just don't feed it straight into a warm res unless you enjoy slime, algae and pythium.   

 

Don't drink it either.  

[Axiom]

@Saddam A litte H2O2 would take care of the sludgey slimey snotty shit

 

3 hours ago, Flamedodger said:

Be careful the dehumidifier doesn’t push your temps too high. I use the water from my dehumidifier in my soil pots all the time 

Cold garage. heater and dehumidifier 2 in 1. 
Summer is a different, much harder to engineer indeed.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Axiom

[Saddam]

 

[Axiom]

@Saddam I find that it takes the bacteria some time to inoculate the standing water from a dehumidifier (many hours maybe days) and so long as its not stagnant, has constant oxygen supply and has early treatment of h2o2 it shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't tested my own theory though so maybe you know something that I'm missing here?

I would use hydrogen peroxide in any hydro set up except coco. Why wouldn't I?

[Slippy One]

15 hours ago, Axiom said:

Does using a dehumidifier in a flood drain style set up with a huge reservoir make sense? 

Yes if your humidity is high. Assuming your huge res is covered. Isn't flood and drain a ballache as it is without adding condensate with zero EC. You wanna save trips but you'll need to constantly check EC, ph, temps etc...

[Axiom]

11 minutes ago, Slippy One said:

 Isn't flood and drain a ballache as it is without adding condensate with zero EC. You wanna save trips but you'll need to constantly check EC, ph, temps etc...

 

Res would be 90L 
I'm not sure how major EC fluctuations would be... but I'm assuming I'd do a tank change every 1-2 weeks. 

I think in this set up I would probably opt for 'ph perfect' nutrients as I use them in coco and love the nutes (not so much the cost though)

Temps - (dehumidifier water is generally quite warm and will hold the temps of the room, minus a couple degrees maybe. 

 

I wonder if based on what you guys have replied there would be any real need of a res cover?

 

I think a lot of people opt for it to deal with algae but personally I could care less about algae stealing some nutrients, unless it gets really out of hand.

[Slippy One]

I’ve never heard of anyone using dehumidifier water for nutrients. But there are no rules when you’re growing. Only lessons.  

Edited October 10, 2023 by Slippy One

[Axiom]

@Slippy One Maybe it's best to stay on the safe side then! I used algae water in my last run and best buds I've ever tasted.... mind you I was a shitty grower previously. 
Just curious - why is flood and drain a ball ache? I thought the whole idea was to cut down the amount of work needed. My main issue is with all the dirt everywhere... the weight of it and disposing it. 

 

I can't wait to get a compost heap going. No random risky trips to the local dumping spots then! 

[stu914]

43 minutes ago, Axiom said:

'ph perfect' nutrients

 

They work fine, just use the Grow A+B and Bloom A+B..no need for all their other stuff, I just add a touch of Buddhas Tree PK during flower.

What medium are you using in the F&D pots, I ask because you mentioned dirt? Pebbles are the best for most hydro systems.

I have my dehumidifier draining into the res for the last few weeks of flowering, with res change every 7 - 10 days there's no problems.