Dry Rooms

[David M]

Lee
That was my first thought as well, given the sticky kinda feeling after picking it up. I'm not one of those "when-in-doubt-taste-it" type guy. I have wondered if we got any dehumidifying effects.

David

Ninole Resident

[HADave]

As my quest for controlling moisture and mildew continues I find that there is some interesting discovery in dessicants.

one type,calcium oxide,in the form of crystals, flakes, and or rocks absorbs moisture from the air and converts it to a liquid (brine) which appears to now be calcium hydroxide also known as hydrated Lime, in the liquid form.

calcium hydroxide can now be employed as either a safe pesticide for COQUI or as a PH nuetralizer for soil admendments and septic systems/cesspools. Household safe and non toxic.

It appears that about 4lbs will control up to 1000sq ft of area. and last near 60 days before replenishing is required.

Perhaps not practical for some homes(possible mess factor) but workshops, toolsheds, vegetable storage bins ..... Or in the home dry rooms.

If we have a resident chemist perhaps they could agree/disagree...)

Aloha HADave

[HADave]

There was a very informative thread over on HiloWeb under dehumidifier. those in the market might want to read about.

Also a mention of, and I thought this was very cool, getting your drinking water hot&cold right out of thin air. With the Air2Water Dolphin. CHECK THIS OUT

http://air2water.net/commercial_products_aquosus.html

I think someone ought to incorporate this into a Frig, think of it...

HADave

How's that for a dehumidifier?





Edited by - HADave on 05/21/2006 11:05:34

[Rob Tucker]

I believe there is a company in Pahoa selling such equipment. They are listed on our Shopping in Pahoa page as:

Liquid Hawaiian Air (808) 966-6231

Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA

[David M]

I'm thinking... if some genius invented a product that pulled the humidity out of the air, supplying it a pure drinking water and also produced useable electricity in the process- WOW.

David

Ninole Resident

[Carolann R]

NOW I believe that I HAVE heard everything. Whaddya think one of those costs? How freakin' cool is that?? Oh yeah and - I wish I had thought of it 'cause in the tropics that one should sell like hotcakes if it does what they say as effectively, eh?

Carrie

[kaptkimo]

Looking for a good dissecant. Try the crystals that are sold in craft stores for drying flowers. My wife makes cloth bags that hold about half a cup. We use them on our sailboat to keep cupboards dry. When they quit working dry them out in a very low heat oven.

Jim Todd

Moving to Puna (Nanawale) from Kwajalien, R.M.I. Will be constructing an owner-built house. Looking forward to arriving there in May 2006.

Edited by - kaptkimo on 05/24/2006 20:31:54

[PunaCat]

I have two thoughts on this subject - are you ready?

I mentioned on the punaweb forum under "ceiling fans", that we were considering buying a couple of Reiker Room Conditioners - check them out on the web or on Ebay, where you can buy them as cheaply as $150 plus shipping (the are reconditioned). They are a type of ceiling fan with ceramic heaters in them. The claims are that they can raise the temp in the room - and my thinking here is that maybe it would be just enough to dry things out once in a while.

My other thought it this: if I were going to build my own house (which hopefully, we'll be able to do a few years down the road), would it not be a smart idea to put in radiant floor heating???? If it were hooked up to the hot water tank, which in turn was hooked up to a solar set up.... Could you not set the coils in the floor to come on via a timer - say from 0400 to 0600 each morning during the wet season????

Now if I'm way off base here, let me down gently.... lol!

PunaCat

[HADave]

As I am in the middle of cleaning my warm air heating system (in preperation of the home for sale, it has occurred to me that, and probably for my own edification,this would be the perfect solution to a dry room/house. The warm air furnace can be fired multiple ways LP gas, fueloil #1 #2,diesel, biodiesel...the thermostat can be easily altered (unleveled) so as to think it is set for one temp when it is actually reading another. It could also be controlled by a humidistat once the btu rating was adjusted for comfort. Then it would run untill the desired humidity level was achieved, always working to dry the room. The btu can be controlled by fuel delivery (nozzle size) pump pressure and air mixture so as not to actually deliver/waste so much fuel that it becomes a cost issue as in typical home heating systems. The unit can be installed in a mechanical room or under the house. Should the home be be insulated the blower unit can also operate independently from the burner, so when evening temps are cooler outside and the house inside is warm from daytime temps cooler intake air can be brought in from under the house where temps might be cooler.

These are my first thoughts but I'm very sure this could be a viable solution to keeping a home dryer and more comfortable. Much cleaner than wood and much safer. Neither the burner or blower wattage are rated all that high, the same or less than an A/c or D/H.

It will move more air to more places than anything else previously discussed and it can be automatically controlled.

The units can be both vertically or horizontally mounted and with such limited use, fuel supplys can be kept in minimum size storage tanks. Maintenance required after 1000 gallons of fuel is used, so probably once every 5-10 years there in Hawaii.

Ductwork is very easy to install and the sizing ratio for intake/discharge can be factored online. as well as heat rise/blower speed

Of course I'm sure the county would not approve of such an idea for the diy, however with no cc&r's no harm no foul, I also suspect that one would have to bring/order all that is required to construct this system from the mainland, probably no furnaces for sale in Hawaii. A used mobile home furnace would be the least expensive, dime a dozen They come ready to work connect power and fuel and they are running connect to exhaust and ductwork and your complete. Some co2 measurements should be considered but usually one can get pretty close with manual air adjustments.

I just happen to have a heat exchanger, unit w/o burner and enclosure in the shed I was saving for conversion to wood burning unit to go in an ice fishing shack. Guess I won't be doing that ever again hmmm Sunday morning sunrises -20 below crisp clean air freezing your nose hairs, bacon eggs and homefries cooking in the shack and that 6am first beer Ho! Flag Flag.....oh the thrill pull up 50 yards of frozen wet line laying all over the ice only to find the the fish is too big to come through the hole......and it wants to go back down....Hey I can still dream this dream even in Hawaii

Thanks for putting up with my magic mushroom moment...

Aloha from one of two Loons

HADave..... back to work

up above 1000ft where it might be rainier and cooler





Edited by - HADave on 06/08/2006 09:47:03

[Carolann R]

Sorry Dave - wrong Dave...(only 1/2 cup of coffee yet!)

I left a message but deleted it because it was for Dave & Sophie!!

Mahalo!

Carrie

Edited by - Carolann R on 06/12/2006 06:40:30