[C38] FW: Re: dehumidifier

[tdtron at earthlink.net]

Hello Group,

My experience with humidifiers pretty much mirrors that of Dave McCarthy's.  I bought an old humidifier at a garage sale and placed it directly over the sink for direct draining.  In the Florida heat and humidity the condensation tank would fill too fast but by direct draining into the sink I could leave the boat for extended time knowing the humidifier was doing its work with no need to worry about the tank overfilling.

I only used the humidifier when we were away because we almost always had the air  conditioner running when aboard.  St. Pete Florida needs air conditioning for at least 10 months a year.  

I don't have the humidifier now and can't remember the brand but I do remember it would restart after a power outage and it did a great job of killing moisture and mold.  

Like Dave McCarthy said, "small is good."  Even a small dehumidifier will be adequate on the 38 but if you are worried about energy consumption you could probably use a robust timer switch to limit the humidifier to only a couple or few hours a day to save electricity.  The cheaper humidifiers have manual temperature switches that don't need resetting after a power failure or with a timer switch.  

The new, fancy  LCD display humidifiers may not hold settings when electricity is terminated unless they have non-volatile memories.  Unless they do have non-volatile memories, like Dave pointed out, the electronic control units will not work dependably for our marine use.

Tom Troncalli



----- Original Message ----- 
From: D McC 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 10/9/2012 9:27:09 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] dehumidifier




 Hello Ken,
We tried using Peltier solid state units and they could not keep up with the humidity in the boat. You would need several of these units scattered around to be effective. Few of them had a drain tube available so you have to manually empty a collection pan.
GREAT technology but not quite up to the task.
We have tried 2 different compressor style dehumidifiers. Small is good. Soleus makes a very quiet model that is small with low amp draw. Sears also has a 35 pint model that is small but noisy. The Soleus has had electronic problems with the control circuits. The Sears unit has been reliable. Both have the major drawback that they will not restart automatically if the power is interrupted and then restored. Soleus now has a small model available that brags that it will automatically restart at the previous setting in the event of a power interruption. a MAJOR advantage and next on our list to replace the current model. We stand ours on the counter outboard of the sink and use the drain hose feature to empty into the sink. 
Since using the dehumidifier and running at 45% or less we have had no mildew or mold, even in the dark places on board. It took almost a week of continuous operation before all the fabric and cushions were dried out. 

Stay Dry~!~

Dave McCarthy
SV Pretty Lady ~ Catalina 38 #148
San Francisco



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Most people have only technical training!



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From: K M S <kmspacific at hotmail.com>
To: "Organization - listserve at catalina38" <listserve at catalina38.org> 
Sent: Monday, October 8, 2012 11:48 PM
Subject: [C38] dehumidifier



I am looking at getting a dehumidifier for the boat. Any suggestions on what size to get and where to locate it on board? Olympia, Wa. gets pretty damp and wet in the winter.
 
Ken Sutto
                "Sundancer"


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