Dehumidifier Planning in Humid Thailand (Flowering Room)

[LoveBudz420]

Here in Thailand the humidity is endless, and I just lost 1/2 a decent plant to bud rot outside. I am accelerating my plans to build a flowering room; I can Veg outside and Flower inside. Problem is, even with an 18,000 BTU Split A/C running 24/7 I can't drive the humidity below 69%. I have a dozen plants, so they are drinking and transpiring a fair bit.

So... I am looking at industrial dehumidifiers. These are not grow-room specific.

My room is maybe 250 sq ft.
Of course, there is a range available going up to much larger spaces (3,000 sq ft).

My Question; should I be over-speccing? Do I run the risk of driving the humidity too low if I over-spec too far? Or is that not a concern during flowering? Can I drive humidity down really low without concerns?

 

[Nope_49595933949]

I'm no expert but using something like an inkbird or internal sensor will allow you to set the RH you are looking for. If you use an over sized one i'd think it would be more efficient?

 

[V256.420]

I also live in a very high humidity area. I did a good search and came up with the Quest 70. A bit expensive compared to cheap residential 50 pint units but this thing is made to last a long long time with an excellent 5 year warranty.

I use about 10 gallons a day in my flower room and if life was perfect you would want to suck that 10 gallons right back out. I figured getting at least 60% to 75% of that back out per day would help quite a bit so I wanted a commercial unit that would work just right.

Right now it's on 24/7 and uses about 480 watts on average. It takes out 6 gallons of water per day and I guess my a/c takes a bit more out as well. Even with all of that I still get humidity levels up to around 69% on rainy days.

Go cheap and see what happens or spend a bit and get a really good unit with a long warranty.

 

[Nope_49595933949]

And something I didn't think of, how will you handle the generated heat of the dehumidifier?

 

[V256.420]

And something I didn't think of, how will you handle the generated heat of the dehumidifier?

If he has a good a/c in the room then it's nothing to worry about. The air can go right back into the room and even cause the humidity to drop more.

But, if not, then it has to be exhausted away from the grow. I don't have a flower room a/c and that hurts me. So I exhaust my Quest 70 thru a wall and into a large room that is cooled right off. The room never gets warm

 

[LoveBudz420]

I did a good search and came up with the Quest 70. A bit expensive compared to cheap residential 50 pint units

About how many $ are we talking for this unit?

So I exhaust my Quest 70 thru a wall

If you had a wall that was on the outer edge of the building would you exhaust it outside? Or is there a smell issue?

Do you recycle the water? Is it usable and clean in your opinion? or you let the machine dump the water?

 

[jcdws602]

I use a commercial unit (Dri-Eaz 1200) in a 12x8 space. They retail about $1800 US dollars but I got lucky and got 2 used units for $400. I only use one and it does a great job reducing humidity. I just drain the water down the drain but could definitely be recycled.I don’t exhaust mine at all . I would imagine you will also exhaust the smell and it is likely to create negative air pressure as well.

 

[LoveBudz420]

I use a commercial unit (Dri-Eaz 1200) in a 12x8 space.

What is your target RH% ?

Even with all of that I still get humidity levels up to around 69% on rainy days.

What is your target RH% ?

 

[jcdws602]

During flower I start in the 70s and slowly taper down to 55%-60%

 

[OM2]

I'll give you my example so you can compare.

My room is about 20 square meters (200-250 square feet), i have a 2x2 tent with 1 plant, room humidity is between 40-70% depending on the season. My dehumidifier is Trotec 66e and it costed around 200€. It's rated for a 50 square meter room (more than twice the size of my room), it pulls 440 watts and it's supposed to dehumidify 1L/h but i think it's less. I can run the dehumidifier all day long and it will only lower the humidity for about 10% at most. At the end of this summer the room humidity was around 65% and i couldn't lower it below 55%, and that was without any plants at the moment. Also, my dehumidifier raises the room temperature for about 2 Celsius. Keep in mind my room is not perfectly sealed, there are slight openings around the door and the window.

So as you can see, it's definitely worth buying a more powerful unit. I thought my unit will be enough for me, but i barely keep it up. When it's nighttime and the plant start transpiring, it's a bit of a panic situation for me.
I don't think you can overkill it unless you spend a huge amount of money for a unit that pulls too much wattage. But it's not a bad idea to buy an industrial dehumidifier. You can use automatic controllers such as the Inkbird and it will regulate. Some units come with their own regulators.
I suppose a suitable unit for you would could cost around 500-700€ for a small one, but i don't know the prices in Thailand.
Just keep in mind it will heat up the room quite a bit, and you'll have to run the AC more to cool it. So you have to calculate the wattage and the price and see if it's worth it for you. All the best!

 

[Kgrim]

I personally would definitely "over spec" a unit for your grow. Humidity in Thailand is unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere. I did a deployment at the air base in Korat, in the mid 80's and its the 1st and only time I've experienced "Prickly Heat" and it wasn't fun, found out quickly what Snake Brand cooling powder was for, A/C in a can, LOL. Even when I went to JOTC in Panama, it was humid, but not like Thailand, and having the cooling powder in my ruck was a bonus.
You will need to pull a lot of water out of the air in your room in Thailand to keep it under control, that's why I would buy a unit bigger than what you think you need, and then have to factor in the heat generated and compensate for that also. Venting outside will probably not work for you because of the smell, unless you can figure a way to run the exhaust thru a carbon filter first.
Folks in the states, even those in the humid south, can't fathom what it's like there, it's absolutely crazy humidity 24/7 most of the year.
Good luck and hope you get a unit to accomplish your goals for a good grow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[V256.420]

About how many $ are we talking for this unit?



If you had a wall that was on the outer edge of the building would you exhaust it outside? Or is there a smell issue?

Do you recycle the water? Is it usable and clean in your opinion? or you let the machine dump the water?

My unit was $1140. No, I exhaust into another room. There is no smell because all of my tents have carbon filters. The air is replaced my cool air from another room so no negative pressure.

I don't reuse the water. It has an oily consistency. I rather use my R/O water. My machine dumps into a 5 gallon bucket which I empty twice a day.

 

[LoveBudz420]

Venting outside will probably not work for you because of the smell

Growing weed in Thailand is now 100% legal, so I can/will vent to outside.

 

[LoveBudz420]

My unit was $1140.

That's quite reasonable.

They also have a 220v 50Hz model suitable for me and a local distributer.

Many thanks for this advice.

 

[Herb & Suds]

Growing weed in Thailand is now 100% legal, so I can/will vent to outside.

Legal maybe
But rippers love the smell

 

[LoveBudz420]

Legal maybe
But rippers love the smell

Thailand isn't completely free from crime, but the idea that anyone would mess with my crop is probably the farthest from my mind of "issues".

I grew up in a western country where some local pricks would steal your shit in a heartbeat. Thailand is not like that at all.

Come here on a vacation and they will rip you 9 ways from Sunday over tours and souvineers, but if you live here it's different.

 

[V256.420]

That's quite reasonable.

They also have a 220v 50Hz model suitable for me and a local distributer.

Many thanks for this advice.

I install mine right in the middle of my flower room. I placed it on a sturdy crate because it's about 60 pounds. I bought a duct kit that goes with it for $70 and hooked up an 8" to 6" flange and connected it to a wall that goes to another room for exhaust.

Link for duct kit https://www.sylvane.com/quest-supply-return-duct-kit-70-dehumidifier.html?_srt=ssr&keywords=4038599

 

[gubblebum]

Wow I started reading this and thought it was my own post haha... I'm growing in Phuket and my outdoor plants have the same issue, had to bin a few plants today from the rot!! Sucks!

P.s, I started by cutting off the rot like 2 weeks ago, also tried a baking powder and soap solution but it kept coming back until today i gave up and binned all but the thai plants in the green house. If I was you id be separating the infected plants asap cause this humidity is not gonna stop it unless youve only got like a week to go (which I did but in a matter of days it just went crazy).

 

[LoveBudz420]

... to a wall that goes to another room for exhaust.

This is from the manufacturer

"We don’t recommend ducting the air out of the space, the exhaust is warm and very dry air that we need in the space to dehumidify the area."

I guess if it works for you, then it works for you. I'll probably not exhaust and just deal with the heat... I see a CO2 machine in my future also.

 

[V256.420]

This is from the manufacturer

"We don’t recommend ducting the air out of the space, the exhaust is warm and very dry air that we need in the space to dehumidify the area."

I guess if it works for you, then it works for you. I'll probably not exhaust and just deal with the heat... I see a CO2 machine in my future also.

You can still reach your desired 50 to 60% humidity level by exhausting it somewhere else. The warmer, actually hotter air, will make that room very uncomfortable without a/c. Now if you want 40% humidity levels but 3 to 5 degrees hotter, then go for it.