Co2---> and the nite time RH spike

[the gnome]

I'll be on Co2 soon in a sealed enviroment and have a few Q about the nite time Rh spike.
venting would be extremely difficult.

the room is 280sqft
I'll run a couple 50 or 70pt soleus or friedrich dehueys.
these units have Rh setting on them.
are these reliable, i see most users here with some sort of Rh controller
from something inexpensive like these dayton control plugs @ Amazon for $60
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21HN-9cE9fL.jpg


to $220 green air gear like this

do the cheaper daytons do the job accurately?
the green air above is only rated at 15 amps
and I'l be running13a with the 50pt and 16A on the 70pt units.

 

[Granger2]

If you use the quality brands you spoke of, they should do a good job of maintaining RH where you set it. No additional controller needed. Btw, I don't think the dehums you mentioned use more than about 6 amps each. Good luck. -granger

 

[the gnome]

i decided to get the Fred-50P, its runs 5.9A but its out of stock.
the 70pt Friedrich is 7.7A so I'll be pushing just over 15A on 2.
maybe get the 50 when its back in stock and the 70 now .

 

[Granger2]

I just got the 50p myself, but have only run it to make sure it works. It does, and is quieter than my old LG. Good luck. -granger

 

[imnotcrazy]

Add a higher power rated contactor to the Outlet and wire proper sized circuit to feed the contactor side of the circuit and you can run both dehumidifiers off one controller. You can easily power several of these contactors on the output of those RH controllers as the coil pulls less than 1A each

Something like this contactor:

Unless you want to take RH measurements in two different areas of the room, you can save a lot of money on controllers this way OR spend the money saved on the higher end RH controller

 

[Perpetual Nooch]

Don't forget you are only supposed to load a circuit with 80% of its rated amperage. Therefore you shouldn't go right up to 15A on a 15A circuit breaker. More like 12A to be safe.

 

[the gnome]

I just got the 50p myself, but have only run it to make sure it works. It does, and is quieter than my old LG. Good luck. -granger

i finally found a couple freidrich 50's
and quiet is what I'm also looking for.
they are 45-49db and the soleus run something like 54db plus the soleus fan runs constantly the fried50 fan runs only when its dehumidifying.
i was lucky to get them,
this time of year they ramp production down til next spring.

Don't forget you are only supposed to load a circuit with 80% of its rated amperage. Therefore you shouldn't go right up to 15A on a 15A circuit breaker. More like 12A to be safe.

yeah, another reason i wanted the fried50s, they are 5.9A
the fried 70 is 7.7A which pushes over the 15A controller

Add a higher power rated contactor to the Outlet and wire proper sized circuit to feed the contactor side of the circuit and you can run both dehumidifiers off one controller. You can easily power several of these contactors on the output of those RH controllers as the coil pulls less than 1A each

Unless you want to take RH measurements in two different areas of the room, you can save a lot of money on controllers this way OR spend the money saved on the higher end RH controller

I just got thru making a 6KW 220V lite controller with sequential start up using power relays like you have in the pic.
even tho I'm @11.8A on the dehueys with a 15A controller i may still have to use a relay,
Third Coast has a sante fe pulling 5.6A on a 15a controller
but it still tripped the breaker on start up,
so he used a relay and prob solved.

 

[FatherEarth]

I used to try and connect all my dehueys to a controller, but realized that the built in controls work just as well as connecting them to my controller. Now I use one connected and the other 3 are standalone. I use frigidaire's 70pt model. I have used this brand for 7 years now and never had one crap out on me. Had a leaky connection in one that would flood the collection pot and stop working cause it was full and needed dumped but thats about it,easy fix. What kind of night time RH are you experiencing?

 

[Treetroit City]

I just got thru making a 6KW 220V lite controller with sequential start up using power relays like you have in the pic.
even tho I'm @11.8A on the dehueys with a 15A controller i may still have to use a relay,
Third Coast has a sante fe pulling 5.6A on a 15a controller
but it still tripped the breaker on start up,
so he used a relay and prob solved.

This is correct although I should clarify, it was tripping the breaker on my Autopilot controller which was rated for 15 amps.

Didn't do it much but after the 2nd time finding my room at 90% humidity I built a relay box with the help of rives.

Ended up using a different box than what was pictured in that pic.

 

[the gnome]

ah... the autopilot is what tripped
15A my green air controller is 15A and both dehu's are pushing 11.9A

I better get ready to do a relay box

here's the my lite controller
i could have done 4 1000w lamps on one relay but wanted the sequential start up 2 at a time
each box is on a 15A 2-pole breaker
a big thanks to rives for all the help on this project

.

I used to try and connect all my dehueys to a controller, but realized that the built in controls work just as well as connecting them to my controller. Now I use one connected and the other 3 are standalone. I use frigidaire's 70pt model. I have used this brand for 7 years now and never had one crap out on me. Had a leaky connection in one that would flood the collection pot and stop working cause it was full and needed dumped but thats about it,easy fix. What kind of night time RH are you experiencing?

thats interesting Fe, before I use the controller I'll try the settings on the freid 50s and see if they do the trick

 

[budleydoright]

get the biggest dehuey you can afford. Your AC will be handling most of the duty, and will often turn on to remove the heat that the dehuey is generating. I use the control on the dehuey, I need the unit to run almost 100% of the time so I set it at 40% It will run all night and still not get things under 60% until the AC kicks on. It's a real juggling act to get dialed in.

 

[the gnome]

thnx budley.
I have a couple friedrich 50pt units
it should do the trick until i can afford a commercial unit.
plus my mr slim has a dehu function on it so that may help.

I'm ready to do the juggling act so i picked up a data logger that samples
Co2-rh-temps that downloads a graph so I'll see where I'm at thru the nite

 

[Treetroit City]

Love the electric work. Very clean looking, kinda of wish I had done my own lighting controller after seeing how easy it was to build my relay box.

The data logger, did you go with the Green Eye?

 

[the gnome]

Love the electric work. Very clean looking, kinda of wish I had done my own lighting controller after seeing how easy it was to build my relay box.

The data logger, did you go with the Green Eye?

i was going to buy the lighting controller but the time to get it made and sent was an issue,
plus i learned 1 fella i considered buying it from had
***very questionable*** practices code wise.

+ I wanted sequential start up which is special order
--> mo $$
-->mo time)...
once i got all the items it took me 1/2 a day to get it wired up
and for at least 75-80% cheaper if i would have bought it.

i have to give rives credit for it,
he really guided me through it all
plus I leaned a butt load of electrical code+practices in the process.

I went with the green eye data logger but i could have gotten it $10 cheaper from Co2.com
I looked at it before ordering but forgot about it.
its the same thing, logo's for the companies are different.

here's the greeneye

and the Co2.com logger

 

[Treetroit City]

Cool, I have the greeneye as well. Fyi, there is an orange light that blinks in the unit. Not sure if it's enough to stress but I'm sure with the right plant...

 

[budleydoright]

I would suggest getting multiple devices to get your RH/TEMP from. it can vary a great deal from one instrument to another as well as different spots in the room. I only monitor the high and low of a few devices and average them.

Obviously, we want to provide the ultimate environment but be careful to not get too caught up in the data. If your plants look good they are good! There's a natural ebb and flow in the room as far as RH is concerned and there's little that we can do about it. I see spikes in my room when the lights kick on. It's already been building all night, then the lights come on and the co2 burner lights up. The burner will add 8-10% RH in a matter of minutes. Takes about 20 minutes for the heat from the lamps to get the AC at full capacity and the RH to come down.

At first the spike concerned me, now I see the plants love it so I worry less. I have found the sweet spot for all of my equipment to work together as well as it can.

 

[budleydoright]

there is an orange light that blinks in the unit. Not sure if it's enough to stress but I'm sure with the right plant...

Not a chance, this source doesn't produce enough light energy. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Treetroit City]

I would suggest getting multiple devices to get your RH/TEMP from. it can vary a great deal from one instrument to another as well as different spots in the room. I only monitor the high and low of a few devices and average them.

I agree with this here. I have multiple thermo/humi reading devices around the room.

I also incorporate this little guy in my arsenal.

Works good for getting canopy temps. Well I think it does anyway although it reads mine around 66-68 when the room is in the upper 70's.

I believe it is because the wall mount fans are blowing the ac over the canopy

 

[the gnome]

budley,
i have the data logger and the green air Co2 controller.
so I'll have a couple Co2 devices taking measurements,
they are within 15ppm of each other.

hey TC!!
Ive been looking for an excuse to get one of those laser temp guns... i look at em every time I'm at the home depot

 

[budleydoright]

budley,
i have the data logger and the green air Co2 controller.
so I'll have a couple Co2 devices taking measurements,
they are within 15ppm of each other.

hey TC!!
Ive been looking for an excuse to get one of those laser temp guns... i look at em every time I'm at the home depot

Sweet! I want one of those lasers too. Harbor freight?

Just sayin, you're better off pettin the sweaty stuff than sweatin the petty stuff!