Dehumidifiers

There are a bunch of pretty cheap dehumidifiers on amazon. I just don't know whats crap and what's not.

I am growing in a small grow tent (2' x 4' x 5') so I only need a small one. Just when it comes to the small ones half of them look like they were made in a Chinese sweatshop (and are accordingly priced) and the others look, well also made in a Chinese sweatshop lol.

Any good suggestions on small dehumidifiers from anyone that has personal experience with the product(s)?

This is my first rodeo, so take it with a grain of salt. I have a 5'x5', a little over 6' tall. I currently have a small dehumidifier I got from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072C3NMK1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Its rated for 150 sq.ft. and it is struggling to keep low 50's at current time, last week was the stuggles with the low 60's. Don't know where your at, but here we typically have high humidity from spring to fall. I would recommend getting as big of a unit that your space and wallet will allow.
I gave up on my little unit and bought a 30 pint size unit, it should be delivered today.

Flatrate said:

This is my first rodeo, so take it with a grain of salt. I have a 5'x5', a little over 6' tall. I currently have a small dehumidifier I got from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072C3NMK1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Its rated for 150 sq.ft. and it is struggling to keep low 50's at current time, last week was the stuggles with the low 60's. Don't know where your at, but here we typically have high humidity from spring to fall. I would recommend getting as big of a unit that your space and wallet will allow.
I gave up on my little unit and bought a 30 pint size unit, it should be delivered today.

Click to expand...

Yeah I was looking at some of those $40-$50 mini dehumidifiers and kind of assumed they were garbage. I live in Ontario Canada where the RH isn't too bad, but with my grow tent full of thirsty girls who transpire a lot the RH in there will become more and more of a problem as they flower.

My wallet won't really allow anything lol, that's why I'm kind of in this bind where I need a cheap fairly effective unit, I just can't afford a decent $100+ unit at this time (and I kind of need a solution right now).

Thanks for your advice, does anyone else have personal experience with a dehumidifier under $100 to use in a 2' x 4' x 5' tent?

I gotcha man, I am in Michigan and soon the humidity will get real stupid.

2x4x5 tent? A cheap one should work in that small tent..I’d just make sure your airflow is really good and not worrry about dehumidifiers unless your humidity is crazy high

A lot of those smaller dehu units are the same with a different sticker on it.

Cali.Grown>408 said:

2x4x5 tent? A cheap one should work in that small tent..I’d just make sure your airflow is really good and not worrry about dehumidifiers unless your humidity is crazy high

Click to expand...

My humidity rises to 60-65% at night. I have good airflow but would you consider this too high?

Remember if you are venting you need to dehumidify the room where you get your intake air from, thats larger than a 2x4.

Ogchieff said:

My humidity rises to 60-65% at night.

Click to expand...

Too high for flower. Bud rot is an issue.

Remember that RH% spikes when the lights go out. That first 20 - 30 minutes is a bigtime spike.

Renfro said:

Too high for flower. Bud rot is an issue.

Remember that RH% spikes when the lights go out. That first 20 - 30 minutes is a bigtime spike.

Click to expand...

I have a 3x3 and I’m getting my air from outside. When lights are on RH ranges from 48%-52% but I noticed when lights off RH has gotten as high as 65%. My temps are pretty consistent day and night from 83F day and 77F night . I’m running a spider farmer sf4000 LED. I’m just finishing up my first week of flower

The issue with smaller dehumidifiers is that they consume much more energy and are less efficient than modern 50pint/day(old 70 pint/day rated) ones. I used this to try and make the best decision possible.


The Frigidaire FFAD5033W1 is what I would recommend if you can afford it. I went with a cheaper one at first and it didn't cut the mustard, so I ended up spending more money in the end. Getting a good unit can also be used for other things like drying your crop or just general comfort. Putting one of these in the where the main "air bank" that goes into your grow area is crucial to the best possible results. An air controller that exhausts air based on humidity and/or temp is also great. That's just what one jabronie on the internet thinks though.

Edit: If you get a unit, most people recommend to let it sit upright for 24-48 hours before you first turn it on. Something about compressor fluids/gasses settling into the right places.

Federucci said:

Something about compressor fluids/gasses

Click to expand...

Oil settling down in the compressor where it's needed.

Ogchieff said:

I have a 3x3 and I’m getting my air from outside. When lights are on RH ranges from 48%-52% but I noticed when lights off RH has gotten as high as 65%. My temps are pretty consistent day and night from 83F day and 77F night . I’m running a spider farmer sf4000 LED. I’m just finishing up my first week of flower

Click to expand...

Gotta be careful with outdoor intakes. If it rains out the RH% of your intake air is at 99%. Not good. A dehumidifier won't help you because the outdoor air will be pushing out conditioned air faster than you can dehumidify it.

qq

Renfro said:

Oil settling down in the compressor where it's needed.


Gotta be careful with outdoor intakes. If it rains out the RH% of your intake air is at 99%. Not good. A dehumidifier won't help you because the outdoor air will be pushing out conditioned air faster than you can dehumidify it.

Click to expand...

im in Los Angeles it literally never rains. Especially since I’m inland. Day time heat is more an issue

Why not use an indoor intake, conditioned air and exhaust the tent outside? Or if you have ample AC and dehumidification you can use the room the tent is in as a lung room, intake and exhaust from that room and dehumidify and cool the air in that room.

That's what I did Renfro, I placed an air purifier in the "main air bank" room along with the dehumidifer to try to get as clean and proper RH air as possible pumping into the ghost and fresno room. I then tried to seal the "main air bank" room and the grow area off as much as possible from the rest of the cabin.

On another note, I was having problems with a mild fungus gnat issue and found two small brownish reddish larvae crawling on the plants from a contaminated peat(beware large chain stores' garden centers, it's on me for not scrutinizing it before my boyfriend mixed it), so I'm flushing with israelensis bacteria and spraying with neem meal tea. Nuts.

I used to have a hell of a fish room,42 aquariums.
I’d say go to Walmart and get a $150 danby or whirlpool they work great and mine have ran for over 7 years no problems

NightOwlBono said:

I used to have a hell of a fish room,42 aquariums.
I’d say go to Walmart and get a $150 danby or whirlpool they work great and mine have ran for over 7 years no problems

Click to expand...

I had heard the non-pro ones leaked their refrigerant after a year or two, good to see that some of them last. I have a few cheap homelabs dehumidifiers from amazon at the moment.

Hmm that’s interesting I better look at my backups and make sure they are okay still.

I have 3,in my fish room I had two that alternated 12 hours each. And a backup just in case.

-edit-because I used them heavily.i took them apart once a year and blew them out with my air compressor.
Without dust and hair collecting inside maybe that’s why mine have lasted so long.