Post by exoticimports on Aug 14, 2020 12:57:36 GMT
There was a question on mold and humidity in the home, in the thread on mold on specimens, and I thought best to address it in a new thread.
Humidity is a problem for insect collections: it can relax specimens, enable mold growth, book lice, and dermestids. On the latter (dermestids) many sources cite that humidity should be below 50% to keep them at bay.
The first question is the source of humidity- internal or external.
External humidity, that being external to the building/ home, enters because human dwellings breathe. Depending upon the construction, most typical western style homes circulate 100% of the air in under 24 hours. The solution is to build homes from highly insulated SIP construction, which can block nearly 100% of air exchange. However, that has its own problems then, and few are going to run and build a new SIP home, so I'll go no further except to say read below. That said, when I bought my home I made sure it was on the top of a hill that's well drained sandy soil- if my basement ever floods we are having a biblical event.
Also, humidity can enter through basement walls and pad. Concrete block can be sealed with specially made paint available at most hardware stores.
So how now to remove humidity from a home/ basement?
1. Air conditioning units AND <<NOTE THIS>> High Efficiency furnaces remove moisture from the air and dump it somewhere. Where is yours going? In some cases (cheap installations) it's dumped into the basement pad. As did mine. When I installed a new A/C and HE furnace eight years ago I wanted to save money, so told them to route the water through PVC and dump it in the corner of the basement pad. I too had humidity problems in the basement, so finally took the time to install a Condensate Removal pump that instead dumps it into the utility sink. I was almost immediately shocked...this little thing ran very often. I figure I was dumping roughly 8 Liters of water into the basement pad every day for eight years!
2. Room dehumidifier. Mine in the basement still (see above) removes about 8 L of water each day during summer. Many of these have both a holding tank which requires dumping every 12 hours or so (or the unit turns off, which makes it ineffective) and a pump and tube to run it elsewhere (such as the utility sink). Problem is, the pumps are notoriously junk, and stop working after a year or so. So start dumping.
3. Mini dehumidifier. These little things, under US$50, remove water differently than a "real" dehumidifier, typically hold 1/4 Liter of water, and are suitable only for one room. That said, I use one in my collection room and it does drop the humidity from 55% to about 48% during the height of summer. Problem is, like everything, they are made in China and are junk, so expect to replace it every couple years.
4. Air circulation: basement air doesn't circulate well, not nearly as the rest of the home. It's cold air, trapped. To alleviate this, which improved temperature and humidity issues, I run my Aircon / heat fan 24/7/365. This costs virtually nothing, and in fact is better for the fan motor than start/ stop.
5. Sump pump: if your basement (like most) has a sump to collect accumulated water, it likely has many liters of water sitting in it. Install a secondary submersible pump lower than the regular pump to remove more water.
6. Dessicants: chemical dessicants are commonly used in confined environments (e.g., safes). These bond with the water in the air. To be "recharged" (water removed) some are plugged in the wall outlet, some have to be put in the oven. I like the rechargeable units that plug in the wall and dry out overnight. BUT these only remove a SMALL amount of moisture and are not sufficient for even a small room. They may be suitable for a sealed insect cabinet. BEWARE though that they should be place BELOW everything in the enclosed space, since if they "overfill" with water they can erupt, spilling chemical all over everything. Numerous anecdotal horror stories exist involving dessicant packages placed above guns in safes, in which the dessicant eclosed from the packaging and ruined the guns.
I hope this briefing provides insights into environmental management to protect insect collections and other assets. The more you do, the better off you will be.
Chuck
