Humidex?

Post by **coaledsweat** » Sat. Aug. 18, 2007 4:02 pm

Anyone with any experience with these things or has used them?

Yanche · Post by **Yanche** » Sat. Aug. 18, 2007 9:13 pm

I don't have any experience with the product. But ... since it doesn't have any way to change the dew point of the air blowing through it there would only be a few situations where it would help. For example, very dry air in the house where the inlet is located and a very humid basement where it discharges. Make wet and dry bulb measurements at the proposed inlet and outlet locations. Then given the air flow CFM, see if the resultant mixed air has the dew point you are trying to get. Seems like a new version on snake oil to me. Now for my 100,000 mile motor oil ...

JerseyCoal · Post by **JerseyCoal** » Tue. Aug. 21, 2007 9:47 pm

I checked out their website last winter. I got the impression that the system is basically a ventilating fan placed at the lowest point in the home where, supposedly the heavy, humid air tends to congregate. It vents that humid air to the exterior of the house thus reducing the net humidity in the home. The air in the basement is also more likely to be musty than upstairs air so that when the basement air is expelled, so is the odor.

They do comment that it will increase your heating bill a bit, but not significantly.

I guess it could work; you are getting rid of the least desirable air in the building. Slightly cracking open a basement window might do the same job however, their system is set up to pull the air off the basement floor and duct it up and out.

Good luck.

Post by **coaledsweat** » Tue. Aug. 21, 2007 10:44 pm

I see how it works, I was interested in what the prices were. They are not very forthcoming in there brochoures and website. It looks like its dealer install only too. I just was thinking they were making a ton of money from a blower and duct the way the whole deal works.

JerseyCoal · Post by **JerseyCoal** » Fri. Aug. 24, 2007 9:37 pm

You are exactly correct! The website does state the cfm rate of the fans and the size of the duct, as I recall. You could probably buy your own fan; fashion the duct; and set up your own system. I was thinking of putting it on a timer perhaps so that it only ran during the daytime, thus keeping the warm air in the building at night. An alternative set-up would be to use a humidity sensing switch to turn the fan on and off.

Post by **coaledsweat** » Fri. Aug. 24, 2007 10:14 pm

I think theirs runs continuously off a humidestat, I believe it has three speeds too. One problem I see would be they interfere with your draft if you are on a solid fuel.

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Sat. Sep. 22, 2007 10:03 pm

I was wondering about this unit after hearing it advertised in the radio. I really don't see much difference between it and an exhaust fan.
I have had a dehumidifier in my cellar for years. It prevents the musty smell as well as metal surfaces rusting, etc.
Since we use air-conditioning sparingly, I can't see how using a glorified exhaust fan instead of a dehumidifier would work.
Oh-as far as the tedious maintenance on the dehumidifier (that Humidex mentions on their website), I hardly ever clean the filter on the unit, and I don't have to empty it because I have the condensation piped into the sump pump.