Venting sump/equipment room in basement into house in a dry climate?

Hal · 05/19/2017, 01:27 PM

For those of you who live in a dry climate, have you ever vented your sump/equipment room into the basement or general living space without it causing problems?

In my old house I had to vent my basement equipment room to the outside or else it caused humidity issues in the finished basement. It would rust any metal that was near the equipment room. Installing a powered vent to the outside fixed the problem. This was in a decently humid climate (Michigan).

My new house is in Colorado, which is a very dry climate. It's basically a desert at altitude. Typical humidity levels are 30-40%, whereas recommended humidity for a house is 45-55%. Based on this, it seems like it might be possible to vent my fish room into the living space of the house, or at least into the basement.

However, salty humid air seems different than non-salty humid air. And I know if theory that evaporated water should not bring any salt with it, but my last fish room had salt creep all over the place.

Has anybody done this? Thoughts?

monkey4life · 05/19/2017, 04:10 PM

Had a 125 fully running open top in my family room, no humidity issues at all. I live in loveland for reference.

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moondoggy4 · 05/21/2017, 09:57 AM

So Cal here and we have the same humidity as you, my whole setup is in the house and we are typically 10 to 20 points higher with humidity, my sons guitars love it. You could always put in a nice FW planted tank

Michael Hoaster · 05/21/2017, 12:32 PM

Go for it. I'm in Boulder, and my tank is in the living room. We already run two humidifiers in the house. I consider my tank a third.

05/19/2017, 01:27 PM	#1
Hal Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Longmont, CO Posts: 1,889	Venting sump/equipment room in basement into house in a dry climate? For those of you who live in a dry climate, have you ever vented your sump/equipment room into the basement or general living space without it causing problems? In my old house I had to vent my basement equipment room to the outside or else it caused humidity issues in the finished basement. It would rust any metal that was near the equipment room. Installing a powered vent to the outside fixed the problem. This was in a decently humid climate (Michigan). My new house is in Colorado, which is a very dry climate. It's basically a desert at altitude. Typical humidity levels are 30-40%, whereas recommended humidity for a house is 45-55%. Based on this, it seems like it might be possible to vent my fish room into the living space of the house, or at least into the basement. However, salty humid air seems different than non-salty humid air. And I know if theory that evaporated water should not bring any salt with it, but my last fish room had salt creep all over the place. Has anybody done this? Thoughts? __________________ Some days it's not even worth chewing through the restraints. Current Tank Info: 250g starphire: 72x28x30, BeanAnimal drain with an oversized non-durso emergency drain, 4 inch DSB, 3x Reefbreeders Value LED fixtures, SWC/MSX 300A skimmer, Geo kalk reactor, 3 Vortechs w/bb, carbon reactor, and a RKL

05/19/2017, 04:10 PM	#2
monkey4life Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Colorado Posts: 146	Had a 125 fully running open top in my family room, no humidity issues at all. I live in loveland for reference. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk __________________ 125g display/37g sump mixed reef

05/21/2017, 09:57 AM	#3
moondoggy4 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: menifee So cal Posts: 11,042	Same ol So Cal here and we have the same humidity as you, my whole setup is in the house and we are typically 10 to 20 points higher with humidity, my sons guitars love it. You could always put in a nice FW planted tank

05/21/2017, 12:32 PM	#4
Michael Hoaster Registered Seaweedist Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 5,807	Go for it. I'm in Boulder, and my tank is in the living room. We already run two humidifiers in the house. I consider my tank a third. __________________ As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance, our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018