problems with tank in garage basement?

[pogiboy67]

hello i have a 2 car tandem LONG garage. just recently moved to oakland. my tank is about 150 gallons with sump and everything. i noticed it can get really humid in my garage if its not open. there are 2 little vents in the garage. and i leave my door to the garage open to help the air circulate a bit. humidity is at 70% with door open. Will this cause problems for me in the long run?

[jcmccue]

At 70% humidity you are in serious risk of having a mold problem. I experts suggest 30-60% max. I would try to say at the lower levels

[EnglishRebel]

You can get a heat recovery unit like this one I have.

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/ENGLISHREBEL/FANTECHHRE.jpg

It will continually exchange the air in the garage (brings in fresh air and exhausts humid air but retains the heat or coolness). I have mine hooked to a humidistat so if the humidity gets above the setpoint it turns on. One thing to bear in mind is that if it's raining outside (100% RH) it will import the humidity into the garage.

[droberts]

one word dehumidifier

[Indymann99]

I used to live in Sunnyvale so not too far away. SF bay area does not have a lot of humidity in the air (except when rain = 100%). I would bet that increasing the airflow through your garage with some power fan vents would drop your humidity to reasonable levels. NOTE that tank evap will increase as well. If your garage is unheated and uninsulated you may have issues with temp stability... That area of the country usually has cool/cold nights almost every night even when the day temp is 100+. This may make it difficult to control the tank temp swings.

Any reason the tank is not inside?

When I ran a 55g in my bedroom in Suinnyvale, I just left window cracked with a fan and had no humidity / mold issues..... TEMP however was a battle for 12 or so days a year when the day temps were 103. Too many 100+ days in a row and the tank could never completely cool down at night and the heat increase would cumulative over 4-5 days to 85+ in the tank.. (unacceptable...) NOTE that I did NOT have AC..

[pogiboy67]

my tank is in the garage because theres no room in my condo. I luckily have a garage so thats where my tank goes. cant really place any vents.... my condo is 3 floors and the garage is on the bottom. I bought a cheap humidity gauge. but bought an elctronic one online for a more accurate reading i hope. ill try to stay away from a dehumidifier unless i really need it. going to try and have a fan point towards the door. will post pics of my garage later

[Indymann99]

I understand housing constraints ($$) in the SF Bay Area... one of the reasons I am in Indy after 30 years of living in the south bay.

good luck and send some picts

[Luckless]

If the complex has a maintenance manager, I would strongly suggest calling them in to take a look at things and talk your options over with them. I don't know how the policies are there.

You really need an air exchanger installed. Remember that mold is not your only risk, but actual structural damage to the building itself. A thousand or so dollars now can save 20k in the future.