Managing humidity from an indoor pool

[karynfab]

Thank you for your very scary and thorough response. I spoke with my contractor and electrician and went thru your list and his main concern was that a simple dehumidifier wouldn't get all the moisture out.

This is a 200 square foot garage, the pool is 7X14 whcih takes almost entire garage I believe it will be heated to at least 85 degrees.

The plan was to use it at a max 3 hrs a day. Typically 120 minutes a day. IT WILL BE COVERED WHEN NOT IN USE which is supposed to keept 96% of the humidity out. No heat source in garage yet and looking into choices. I live in NY and was only going to heat garage 30 minutes before swim and during.

My contractor believed if I got a indoor EXPENSIVE pool dehumidier (which covers almost 1500 sq) that I would not need to worry about changing the exisiting wires in the garage. There are some alumunium wires in the ceiling presently. Another concern is we have our cable box and garage door opener in the garage.

We are going to vapor barrier all the walls, ceiling. Of course moisture resistance sheetrock. I am getting a price quote to change all the wires.

We are putting in an outside door that goes from our dining room to garage to prevent air escape. We are also putting up a fake wall where the garage door is that will be insulated to prevent air escape.

What do you think? And again thanks for your reply.

.


I am using this pool for rehabilation and want to make sure it is properly done.

[PoolDoc]

I spoke with my contractor and electrician and went thru your list and his main concern was that a simple dehumidifier wouldn't get all the moisture out.

He's right. It couldn't begin to keep up during use periods

I live in NY and was only going to heat garage 30 minutes before swim and during.

Yikes! That GUARANTEES cold walls and wires, resulting in MAXIMUM condensation!

My contractor believed if I got a indoor EXPENSIVE pool dehumidifier (which covers almost 1500 sq) that I would not need to worry about changing the existing wires in the garage.

Wrong! Those systems are expensive, confusing, and hard to maintain. Few people -- including hospital maintenance staff! -- have been able to understand them well enough to operate them effectively.

A MUCH better choice for you, given intermittent heating, would be an OLD-STYLE gas heat system with 100% outside air, and a matching powered exhaust vent. This would come much closer to maintaining reasonable humidity levels during use.

There are some aluminum wires in the ceiling presently. Another concern is we have our cable box and garage door opener in the garage.

"Aluminum", spelled "F I R E". I thought you were taking over the garage? Replace the door with removable panels. The opener AND the tracks are likely to corrode.

We are going to vapor barrier all the walls, ceiling. Of course moisture resistance sheet rock. I am getting a price quote to change all the wires.

OK, good.

You might be able to get a successful installation if you

• move 100% of the wiring and switches OUTSIDE the pool room, leaving only the cable from the pool, and the (sealed!) light fixture in the room.
• install 100% outside air heat, with 105% powered exhaust
• seal the room off room from all other equipment, wiring, tracks, operators, lights, etc.

Of course, a functionally superior way (though probably architecturally unacceptable!) would be a freestanding double wall polycarbonate 'greenhouse' enclosure, using treated wood and SS fasteners, with gas heat. That would completely eliminate the problems

[karynfab]

1) The endless pool has a INSULATED COVER that prevents 96% of the humidity when the pool is not in use. The Max time pool will be open 2-3hrs. a day. Wouldn't that make a huge difference in keeping in the humidity?

Here are the 2 dehumidifiers I was talking about:

http://www.sylvane.com/hiedry-100-dehumidifier.html

http://www.sylvane.com/santa-fe-adva...umidifier.html

2. We do NOT have a GAS line and can't use GAS for heating.

3. The other option to heat the space is to run existing loop on our first floor from my living room to get baseboard heat to garage.($2200). Our garage is between our living room and den and accessed thru the dining room.

4. Our electric panel is in our dining room NOT garage.

5. I'll look into replacing the garage door. Thanks.

6. Wouldn't the vapor barriers and resistant water sheetrock protect the wires inside the walls?


Many thanks, this is the only place we can put it.

[PoolDoc]

1. Sorry, I'm not going to dig into product selection for you; I've done more than I said I would.

2. Use propane.

3. Electrical heat will be VERY expensive not matter how you do it. If you have a oil heat with a boiler . . . I don't know what the costs will be.

6. ONLY if there are no connections. Air doesn't get into wires; it does get into receptacles and switches.