Official Luthiers Forum!

Ok ...so I'm trying to maintain RH on a budget and have done a few experiments with my hydrometer......I have a small space 5mx5m ...without any doing anything it hovers around 70%RH at the moment... If I crank up a 1400w oil heater i can get the room down to 47% but the room gets to hot....

Dehumidifiers in australia I'm finding hard to find and especially with a humidistat so that it works automatically and maintains RH seem to start at $500 and up...

I just discovered a company called HYDROSORBENT DEHUMIDIFIERS which is basically silica gel......just wondering if anyone has had any experience with a product like this.....it looks like it could do a space my size.....but obviously harder to maintain RH and will have to be monitored closely...best of all it doesn't cost anything to run....but I don't know how much moisture it would take out of the air?

because my electricity bill with a oil heater going all day would be insane and i may as well spend the $500 as i would save in the long run.....but if it can be done with silica gel and maybe a small amount of heating??

Grant,

I think that you may have problems maintaining a specific RH with sorb products, they tend to keep dropping the RH until saturation or isolation.

I would just bite the bullet and buy a dehumidifier or set up wardrobe as I suggested in your last post. Have a look on ebay, dehumidifiers a real big in NZ. Heaps of kiwis move to AU and bring theirs with them, a couple of month after they get here, realising they no longer need one in our climate, they list it on the bay.

They weigh like a small fridge so shipping will hurt but still worth the hunt. Also check cashies, that way you will save on freight.

Just one question, this 5m x 5m area you wish to control is sealed isn't it?

Cheers

Kim

Grant, where abouts in Oz are you living?

Im in the Adelaide Hills where humidity varies between 20 and 100% throughout the year. I keep the humidity in my workshop at about 45% using a dehumidifier and during the winter a ceramic wall heater on a timer. Mitsubishi make the best dehumidifier in this part of the world but unfortnately theyve stopped importing them into Australia. Theyre available in NZ along with a few other brands. My dehumidifier is a chinese made machine that I bought from a Queensland outfit....cost about $Aus900. The humidistat on the thing isnt that accurate but by trial and error Ive got the thing set up so humidity in the shop falls within the desired range.

Mine is a Delonghie that I picked up about a year ago for $50.00 or $80.00? from Cashies(read hockshop. It will pull more than 20 litres a day according to the stats. The manager at Cashies did not really know what it was so he let it go cheap.

Like yours Martin the humidistat is a bit vague, it has no numbers on it just high to low settings, but it seems to work very well once you get it set were you want using a digital hygrometer to calibrate.

Cheers

Kim

Larkim:- Yeah the room is completely sealed and insulated
        I will keep my eyes open at cashies
Kiwigeo:- did you buy the Cli-mate brand. I have checked their site.....there are models around without a humidistat but I'm not sure how easy to maintain RH with those...could be more trouble than its worth..

Grant,

Will fish out details of my dehumdifier and post up for you.

Id get a machine with a humidistat....very hard to control humidity without it. Also get yourself a decent hygrmeter and thermometer....two if you can afford it.

Grant,

Details of my dehumidifer on this site. The price has gone up a bit since I bought mine.

http://www.miteyfresh.com.au/cat/index.cgi/shopfront/view_pr oduct_details?category_id=3198;product_id=109600

Cheers

Hi Grant,

I have a dehumidifer (DeLonghi $650.00) propabaly similar to the one that Kim has. In a sealed room with about 100 cubic metres of air I can control the humidity quite well. However I did double the size of my workshop and it going most of the time. A sealed room is necessary but probably unhealthy if you don't bring new air in occasionally. Dust is always a problem if you are not vigilant in cleaning the air filters. My unit has iced up a couple of times when the dust clogged the filter. Dust can also cause water to leak out rather than draining through the pipe.
Dessicant dehumidifiers are available and start at about $2000. There is a supplier in Melbourne. They are very effective and can reduce the humidity rapidly.

regards

Tim

Australian Tonewoods

NZ Consumer magazine gave the Delonghi machines a fair rating recently.

thanks again Martin,kim and tim ......I live in the hills as well martin so probably quite varied humidity so i might just have to bite the bullet and spend the cash....but scouring cashies for one is a good idea as well....
cheers