Rick - question about humidity/mold

Hi Rick, thanks for joining us!

You mentioned that in winter your greenhouse vents humid hot air to the house, and receives cool air back from the house. I'd be extremely concerned about mold/fungus issues if I vented greenhouse air directly into my house! I've seen substantial mold growing directly on mold-resistant cedar siding in an attached solarium, and there are plenty of more vulnerable surfaces in most houses.

The benefits of an attached greenhouse in terms of passive winter heat are very appealing. Heat exchanger setups to avoid this humidity/mold concern are much less appealing...

Do you have some means of addressing this?

Dillon Nichols wrote:Hi Rick, thanks for joining us!

You mentioned that in winter your greenhouse vents humid hot air to the house, and receives cool air back from the house. I'd be extremely concerned about mold/fungus issues if I vented greenhouse air directly into my house! I've seen substantial mold growing directly on mold-resistant cedar siding in an attached solarium, and there are plenty of more vulnerable surfaces in most houses.

The benefits of an attached greenhouse in terms of passive winter heat are very appealing. Heat exchanger setups to avoid this humidity/mold concern are much less appealing...

Do you have some means of addressing this?

Dillon:

Where I am living, the winters are cold and very dry... the air is too dry in most homes..the humidity and heat makes it more comfortable... Just like many people use a humidifier in their homes to keep from getting static electric shocks in the winter, or to keep their skin from cracking, of nose from being too dry and bleeding, I have no problem with bringing humidity into the living quarters in the winter. As I mentioned to another in the forum, in the spring I close off the vents to the house and I start bleeding excess heat and humidity to the outside.