Ventilation in the cellar; suck or blow?

[Adam Funk]

The dehumidifier in the cellar died a while back & it's starting to get musty down there. I'd need to replace it with another one with a built-in pump to push the water up a bit & out of the house --- those are quite expensive & I had trouble getting the old one to coöperate with the appliance timer anyway (it was 600 watts so I tried to run it on night electricity).

I'm now thinking that good ventilation will suffice to keep it dry enough, & I know that fans can be run on timers. There's an air brick in the top of the cellar wall at the front of the house, another in the side (in the entry), & another one at the back of the crawl space. I'm thinking of attaching a fan to the back air brick.

But I've started looking on the WWW (dangerous, I know) & seen some claims that it's better to blow air in than to suck it out. I guess I could get an in-line fan [1] & install it the other way.

Comments, suggestions?

[1] e.g.,

[Tim Watts]

Stick with the dehumidifier but discharge into a small tank with a float switch and sump pump - that would run in infrequent bursts and would not need to be tied to the timer.

EcoAir do a dumb desiccant dehumidifier that is happy to be switched remotely (because the controls are simple).

[meow2222]

If you put a fan on the outgiong airstream, some air goes from upstairs int o the cellar. If you put a fan on the incoming airstream, some air goes from cellar to up stairs - not generally desirable.

I'm doubtful what you plan will work though. If you chuck summer air into t here, as it cools it will condense & make the cellar damper. Its only going to work if you put a /lot/ of warm air in, which is a nonstarter with 3 ai rbricks.

NT

[Adam Funk]

Something like this?

What do you mean by "desiccant dehumidifier"?

Thanks, Adam

[Adam Funk]

Yeah, I'm starting to like Tim's idea of using 2 separate, simple components for dehumidifying & pumping out. I have a spare bucket I could use as a tank.

My only concern now is about the outside end of the hose freezing in winter, but I had been (until the current dehumidifier with pump died) planning to drill a a hole in the base of the front wall in a storm drain & line the end of the hose up flush so the pumped water would fall right out of it into the drain.

[Tim Watts]

Apart from the fact I can't spel?

[Tim Watts]

That's the good bit about an infrequent emptying of a small sump - the water will be warm and a lot of it will come out at once removing any small amount of ice.

It's a drip-drip-drip discharge that is so prone to freezing up in winter.

[Brian Gaff]

Would this water be useful for something? If on a meter it might have uses. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes indeed, it did not even work with a garage, so dehumidifiers are the way to go I think. Brian

[John Williamson]

It's likely to be less than a gallon a day, but very pure, so handy for things like topping up batteries and irons, or using to water your carnivorous plants.

[John Williamson]

One of the heat recovery ventilation system might be good. Or you could put fan for incoming air at one end and one for exhaust at the other, with the extractor slightly larger than the forced air one.

Or just put an extractor fan on , and make sure there's enough passive ventilation without drawing air from the house.

[Adam Funk]

I'm sure I read somewhere, but I can't cite it, that dehumidifier water is bad for plants because (unlike properly distilled water) it contains all the guff in household air. (No, I can't remember exactly what the bad guff is --- dust & mites, maybe?)

[Tim Watts]

It's basically distilled water so great for some plants and irons and stuff.

[meow2222]

into the cellar.

o upstairs - not generally desirable.

to there, as it cools it will condense & make the cellar damper. Its only g oing to work if you put a /lot/ of warm air in, which is a nonstarter with

3 airbricks.

I dont think any of those are likely to work. HRV would make things even wo rse.

NT

[meow2222]

NT

[meow2222]

condensate:

Its distilled water with lots of crap dumped into it, plus usually mould. OK for irons & steam cleaners, but not much else.

NT

[Tim Watts]

I would not have thought plants would mind - soil is made of crap.

[Adam Funk]

Yabbut is the crap in the dehumidifier the right kind?

[Adam Funk]

What's misspelt? I meant that "desiccant" means "something that removes moisture" & "dehumidifier" means, umm, "machine that removes moisture". I guess since you're still talking about electrical controls, you don't mean one of those silly boxes of hygroscopic goo.

[Adam Funk]

OK, I'll go look up "desiccant wheel" now. But "Higher price and about double the energy use of a compressor type, but these work well at all temps"; I don't think my cellar gets below 12°C much, even in winter.

Is the usual compressor kind more likely to disagree with being run on an appliance timer?