Best dehumidifier for mini grow room

[Chal]

50 minutes ago, Amnesialocal said:

At the moment my problem are the temperatures, that during light off ( day) are below 20c (17-20), so the compressor dehumidifier doesn't work efficiently and need to turn off to defrost 35% of the time

 

Amne; Following ye lead, I'm looking at the two EcoAir 12L models, on Amazon. My brain Really hurts now! The bastards! Both models are practically identical, except for the small print we have to dig for.

 

In a word though, they (EA); The Summit S model has an Operating Temperature Range 15 ~ 32 ºC.  Where as, they say, the Summit (Full stop) model goes 5 ~ 32 ºC.

 

40F or 60F is a fuck ton of difference, when dealing with compressors in 'cold' rooms!

 

On ye travels, have ye seen any other mention of this all important difference, please? Only, it's just possible ye may have led me to my actual dream machine!

 

Just, please god; Don't let it be a fucking Typo they've made!

[Amnesialocal]

Hi Chal,

In my opinion what the most of people will do is heat the space to achieve a range of temperature for the machine to work efficiently and continuously.

Light off in flower over week 4, temperature between 17-22 I guess could be ideal. 20-21 is an operation range that should work.

 

Not sure where your space is located, but if it is in a cold space, maybe outdoor I wouldn't recommend the summit, neither the 12l and probably neither the ecoair.

If your space is inside and you can be closet to 18-20 degrees, 150w for the summit in my opinion is very good and the machine is very efficient ( in a room).

 

A technician recommended to consider to locate the machine 40cm from the floor as temperature could be higher and allow the machine work better.

In situation below 10c they struggle to work, but neither plants will be very happy I guess.

 

I am doing also lot of research due to the location I am trying to make it work, but at the moment automatic seems to me the best option for the hard winter months.

 

 

[Chal]

Just now, Amnesialocal said:

Hi Chal .....

 

I'll get back to ye tomorrow, mate. Pup asleep on my lap. Typing with one finger. Brain about done in!

 

I'd drifted back down the rabbit hole. Just thinking I might be getting somewhere ..... Pop back here and find ye reply! Excellent, and thought provoking. Thanks. Only, I just can't think any more, right now!

 

It's good to have ye around though. We're both on such similar quests

 

[Military Grade]

Heating room would be more optimal(Not to be confused with economical),  Having a cold grow rooms/lug rooms is not ideal.

 

You say it's indoors, how big is the room?

I didn't realise you're temps where dropping below 18c, It probably won't take too much to keep the room above 18c if the room ain't too big.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Military Grade

[Chal]

21 hours ago, Amnesialocal said:

Chal; In my opinion what the most of people will do is heat the space ..... Not sure where your space is located, but if it is in a cold space, maybe outdoor I wouldn't recommend the summit ..... If your space is inside and you can be closer to 18-20 degrees ... the summit.

 

Cheers, mate. Now, interestingly enough, I was about to start by apologising for the late response; Only, I've been caught in a power cut, all day. Then, I wondered if ye'd want to know that / What relevance my enduring more than regular enough cuts could make to the discussion!

 

Jesus christ! It's scary!!! Going DWC, I already have a battery operated air pump in my stash. Thought that was clever. Yeah? So, what about a battery operated Dehu and Heater? Lights??? Ohhhhh Shit!!! Hadn't seen That coming!

 

Anyway, yeah. Indoors / Outdoors? Nothing is simple, with me, A! My 'Room' is genuinely a bit of each! It's probably unique! It's actually a space between two Stone Built structures.

 

Imagine two stone cottages. Right up close. Then, throw a flat roof along the thin gap between them. Block the end with a concrete wall and window. Then, knock a door way into One cottage. (Other end is an internal, stone wall. It's complicated!)

 

I'll be working through that door. Room, this side, is completely unheated. Flat roof is ancient. Water practically comes through it. RH in there is completely off the charts. Are ye still with me?

 

Like yeself, it's a matter of of, 'What the bloody hell do I do, for the best?!' None of the normal scenarios quite fit it. So, nor do the tried and trusted procedures

 

As I sit here? My latest muse is; 'How about I build a Room within this space? I'm thinking insulating boards? Make a bigger box of that. Put my tent in the box. Treat the box as a Lung Room.

 

That way, I stand a chance of being able to warm the box, so a Dehu will stand a chance in there. Only, glaring snag is when I need to do anything in the box / tent! I open the door to the whole space? There's the inside of the box, exposed to the cold room I'm standing in. All that warmth sucking straight out as 'my' cold rushes in. Then, open the Tent? God knows!

 

And this is where I stand, right now. Tomorrow, I buy several yards of three core flex, as I wait for my multi point plug rack to arrive. That's taking power to the space.

[Amnesialocal]

On 31/10/2023 at 11:33 PM, Military Grade said:

Heating room would be more optimal(Not to be confused with economical),  Having a cold grow rooms/lug rooms is not ideal.

 

You say it's indoors, how big is the room?

I didn't realise you're temps where dropping below 18c, It probably won't take too much to keep the room above 18c if the room ain't too big.

 

 

Dear Chal and Military, 

I have tried to draw my best the current situation I am working on. 

Personally I am considering two options: 

Option 2 is my current situation (only 1 plant over 5) trying to save the sister of my 2 outdoor/terrace plants (previous one 99% bin for mould). I don’t think this set up is for me. Not having experience and with the current environmental issues this set-up is just throwing money away. With a de-humidifier working 24/7 and some extra heating the environmental condition could work theoretically (RH not below 50%) over winter. 

Option 1 is what I really would like to do while learning. I hope the 0.5l/day could work into the cabinet and no need for extra de-humidifier outside. But in case, the idea should be to extract the warm air and discharge into the lung room (to heat the space a bit to have the de-humidifier working). Dehumidifier and heating could be located as suggested before and passively intake into the grow room. 

Actually I am not sure which of the 3 extraction options I can have is the best. 

Discharge warm air from the grow room won’t increase RH? Definitely I could warm up a bit the space in case of very low temperature in winter and need to use the dehumidifier. 

 

Chal: 

Regarding your scenario, I have the following comments: 

1. Ecoair Summit at 20-21C RH 60% bring incredibly fast RH to 50% but below that is not going, or at least is very very very slow (165W). I guess 50% in late flowering is acceptable, but not perfect. 
2. I will suggest these 2 compressor models (approx..220W) 

• Meaco Arete 20L 
• Meaco 20L low energy 

3. I would not recommend a desiccant dehumidifier, at least you are not considering to use it on the “cold area” to warm the space while reducing humidity. But again during light on, or you switch it off or air will be 10 degrees warmer. 
4. My FULL space is 7sqm approx. and 3 should be compartmented a bit more. BTU approximately calculations give me approx.. 800W needed to warm the full space. No idea in how long and more important how much watt I need to maintain constant a specific temperature. I calculated approx.. 180W/hour to maintain the space at temperature ( but I won’t trust myself). 

In my case for Option 1 ( 150W light) all these extra W for heating and/or dehumidification are not worst  honestly. 

5. Any idea to create a room into a room and insulate, in our cases I guess could work. 

 

Hopefully we will receive some advise and move on from environmental problems. 

Thanks all 

[Amnesialocal]

Sorry it seems I can't load images.

I uploaded them here:

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Cursed
Please upload here

[Chal]

2 hours ago, Amnesialocal said:

Meaco Arete 20L 

 

Ye don't reckon I'd get away with the 12 then?

 

Just to throw in that I'm seriously into the Continuous Drain idea. The fact that, I see, they do a Pump for these ones excites me! Or, thinking about it ~ on my feet, as ever:

 

I can see combining your (Mechanics) idea about having it off the floor? Utilising that to allow me to drain it via Gravity, straight down a hose to a hole in the wall! Like a WC Overflow pipe? That can be arranged!

 

I can feel that tremor of enthusiasm kicking in, mate!

 

Bought my flex, today. That's out there, as we speak. Plugs are due on Monday. I have the wall mounting conduit sat in my kitchen. Inexorably, I'm inching ever closer to kicking off here!

 

Meaco says their Arete's are out, till the end of November? Great! So's my fucking pension! Would be a hell of a leap forward to look forward to though .....

 

I'm liking this!

 

[Military Grade]

Not sure if you're thinking the 12l or 20l values is the size of the water storage tank?

If not then ignore me

 

If i remember right them values are to do with how effective each machine is over a 24hr period if the condition were optimal. So the 20l would be about 30-40% more effective on paper.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Military Grade

[Axiom]

On 24/10/2023 at 5:59 PM, BilgePump said:

So you need to be drawing air into the shed not straight from outside into the tent.

I do half and half (both passively) in summer & winter.

On 24/10/2023 at 5:59 PM, BilgePump said:

Putting a dehu in the actual tent will just cause it to work itself to death/be really expensive to run and not be very effective whilst costing you a fortune.

Mine is inside the tent. It's super weird that a couple weeks ago I would empty 5L every day or 2. At the moment it goes a few days without being emptied and its always on the minimum speed setting. It's never full when I've check it recently. I think that's the benefit of having the target RH mode. 

Its Probreeze 20L / day

 

On 25/10/2023 at 1:30 PM, BilgePump said:

It'll be cheaper than trying to maintain a stable environment in a smaller space with constant air exchange.

 

What you say makes sense and I wouldn't argue against it but right now it seems to be low maintenance and extremely efficient and probably knocks the temps up a little when it gets to work. 

 

Maybe because I've got the fans turned low this time of year? My old dehumidifier was on full pelt towards the end of summer.
If this all sounds absurd, I don't blame you ... I thought humidity was higher in this season. 

 

[Chal]

14 hours ago, Military Grade said:

Not sure if you're thinking the 12l or 20l values is the size of the water storage tank?

 

Aaaaand, Scrap everything I've just typed! I picked up on Axiom ~ above ~ mentioning his own type. Went to have a look at it and Boosh!

It actually Says, plain as day: ' 20L per 24 hours out of the environment / 5.5L Storage Tank '.

 

So, I guess(?) that spec would ~ potentially ~ needing emptying like a sinking boat? Or, am I Still failing to comprehend something here? Should it matter to me ~ in the real world?

 

Now we're on the subject? Point: " This 20L will do for a Five bedroom house!!! " Yeah? But, what if said five bedroom house is borderline derelict and dripping with damp?! Not some ten year old build. Fully central heated, 24 /7?

 

My 'room' is ... Dunno. But, it's footprint is barely a yard 'n half square. There's bigger wardrobes in fucking Tokyo! But, it is practically oozing damp. (Wonder if I should just call it a root cellar or something? Save keeping on explaining the fucking place and its situation? Dungeon? Underground Dungeon?)

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Chal

[Flamedodger]

I bought a 20l ProBreeze with a continuous drain (pipe on the back) if you have somewhere it can drain off, you can leave them and not worry about emptying them. I did a grow with it in my grow space last year in Dec and Jan whilst no heating was needed, I had 32°c + in the depths of winter in an unheated shed 
I would suggest Inkbirds or similar for turning it on and off, it’ll save a few £’s too 

[Chal]

1 hour ago, Flamedodger said:

I bought a 20l ProBreeze

 

Condenser type?

[Flamedodger]

12 minutes ago, Chal said:

 

Condenser type?

Don’t think so, but it’s 4 years old now 

[Chal]

Just now, Flamedodger said:

Don’t think so

 

Yeah. No. Sorry. Don'#t know what I was thinking Of course, it'd have to be a dessi, to bring ye temp's up.

 

Condensers don't work / last five minutes in the cold. This is why I'm interested in getting a Condee and shoving it in the tent. @Axiom is my newest guiding light. I see people say ye can't do it. He Is.