Therma-Stor Forum / Residential / Residential Forum

Check out the home page for info on the new compact Dehus!

Ken — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:13:36 GMT

Looking good! Ken

New Compact Residential Machines?

rcorzatt — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:25:31 GMT

Can you tell me when the new Compact residential machines are coming out? I believe there's a smaller Santa Fe and Ultra-Aire?

Best regards, rich

Using Ultra-Aire XT150H on three a/cs

Ken — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:05:47 GMT

I am a new member of the forum. I unsuccessfully tried posting the following question:
"I have an Ultra Aire whole house system installed in my current 3600 sq ft home and it has worked well for 4 years.
I will be moving this summer and I could use some advice in modifying the HVAC system in our new (15 year old) home.
The home is single story, 4600 sq ft home on slab in southwest Florida. It has three a/c units, two of which are 10-15 year old, 2.5 ton units and one is a new 3.5 ton unit. I plan to replace at least one of the older units with higher efficiency unit and I am considering the XT 150H as a part of the new system. I should also note that we do not occupy the home in the summer months.
Can a system be configured using just one XT150H unit? and
Does including the XT150H in the system permit me to economize in any way on the cost of the new A/C components that I will be purchasing?"

I received the following message:
The board administrator has requested that you must provide some message content within your post. You cannot post only HTML, Images, EmotIcons or IFCode.

Perhaps you could post this and let me know why I could not post it.

Thanks, Ross

Connecting the return of the dehumidifier to the return of one a/cs and discharging the dry air supply into the supplies of the other two a/cs should work well. Use a tee with balancing dampers to divide the dry air appropriately between the two a/cs.

Doing an independent return from the open part of the house and supplying the dry air to the three a/cs supplies also works well. When the home is not occupied during the summer, all the interior doors should be left open, including closets. Also allow the dehumidifier fan to operate continuously to circulate the air throughout the home. I would suggest a/c set as high as possible with the fan in "auto".

All of us would appreciate hearing of about your experience with UA in your present home. Thank you for continuing using Ultra-Aire in your next home. The UA XT150H is an excellent choice and should handle the new home. Ken

Recommended coordination between Sante Fe and main AC?

RG — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:43:17 GMT

I'm pretty sure this has been done to death somewhere, and I apologize for not finding it yet and needing to ask again.

I - finally - got a Sante Fe. I have ground source (Water Furnace) AC and heating in the attic of an insulated concrete/SIPs roofed house with no attic insulation. The heat pump operation works great. However, here in south central Texas, there are many days spring and fall where the only fault in the air outside is the water. Very familar story, no doubt.

I'd like to do the ductwork as cleanly and simply as possible, of course. I have the access to do a second intake/distribution network of ducts for the Sante Fe if that's what's needed, but it's very tempting to use the one that's already there with the AC return/distribution.

What do you recommend?
- Separate network, which will undoubtedly turn out to be one or two intakes and max three outputs
- glomming onto the main air handler and managing their interaction somehow?

I'm a multi-area techie and can handle as technically as you want to describe this.

Thank you for anything you can tell me.

Ecuadorian Cloud Forest

gschiltz — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:54:15 GMT

My wife and I are moving to Ecuador, about an hour and a half west of Quito. Our land is at 6500' elevation in the cloudforest. I don't have data, but my gut feeling from visiting during the late winter is that a good part of the day in the wet season, it probably averages 70-90% RH with temperatures ranging from the 50s to 70s. The "dry" season is less cloudy, is warmer (60s to 80s) and less humid (I suspect it is still well above 50% most of the time). Several people that I have gotten acquainted with in the area have made comments to the effect that dehumidifiers are practically unknown there, but very much needed. We will build a two story house of about 2500 square feet, and I wasn't planning to have any ducting or even any heating or cooling, given the typical temperature ranges. I would probably want some windows open during the less humid times of day (late morning to mid afternoon). I am considering a Santa Fe RX, since it is free-standing, quiet, seems like it would handle that size of house, and given the price, I would hope it would be very well built. I'm not sure what my questions are, but hope to get some feedback - any takers?

Thanks a lot,

Gary Schiltz
Santa Fe, New Mexico
(where they give you a blank stare when you ask about a [u]de[/u]humidifier - the RH here averages about 25%)

Maine two-story coastal home on slab - no cooling/ducts

joey — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:07:00 GMT

I've recently purchased a 3000 square foot two-story home on the Maine coast. The home foundation is slab-on-grade and has no cooling (rarely needed here - window ventilation is usually sufficient) and has baseboard hot water heat. I'd like to control the humidity during the summer months for comfort and to keep the clothes in the closets from feeling damp.

I thought I would start with a single Sante Fe RX and see how that works, but was wondering about placement (bedrooms are upstairs and everything else down) and any recommendations about opening windows for outside ventilation.

Thanks,

Joey

noise

jiml — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:15:03 GMT

Is it safe to put insulation on the interior of the plywood? likke they do to absorb sound from a dishwasher?

<<<<In addition, 3/4" plywood cut to fit the three flat surfaces of the dehumidifier will reduce noise significantly. Keep us posted on your results. Thanks again for your support and patience. Ken >>>>>>

Sante Fe Ducting - Basement

MDP — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:44:51 GMT

Hello,

I'm forwarding you a URL which gives the layout of our basement.

http://www.beautazz.com/basement.pdf

I'm trying to figure out what would be the best way to layout our duct work for our Santa Fe to cover the whole basement. Doors will be closed most of the time because we have small children.

The plan is to have the Santa Fe in the furnace area. A HVAC contractor recommended just ducting the supply & return through the wall at " X " position on the layout. If we do that I'm thinking that isn't going to do anything for the storage area, but would cover the rest of the basement.

What would your recommendation be on ducting our basement after seeing our basement layout?

Thanks

MDP

Santa Fe / other unit placed in vented mechanical room?

SteveA — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:31:35 GMT

My mechanical room (19' x 4' , vapor barrier, R30 insulation in between floor joists, R 13 in between wall studs) contains a natural gas fired Hot Water Heater & thus needs to remain vented.

Taking into account my gepgraphical location, Atlanta GA, my question is which dehumidifier unit, when placed approx 15' from exterior crawl space vent & between the Hot Water Heater & 95% efficient duel fuel furnace (dedicated air supply & only comes into play at 36 degree outside temp) would be best.

Space for Dehumidifier location between the Hot Water Heater & the Furnace, is 2'.

Dehumidifier would be ducted to below grade basement that is currently unfinished but will be in the future.

Questions about a Whole House Dehumidifier

Building a New Home — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 07:33:49 GMT

Hello.

I am considering the purchase of a UA-90H, UA-100V or UA-XT150H whole house dehumidifier for new construction.

As background:

We had a horrible mold problem in our previous home. The problem was related to direct water infiltration (numerous leaks) and not necessarily just the normal transference of moisture from outside to inside that occurs in hot and humid climates.

The house will be located about 50 miles south of Atlanta GA. Very hot and humid summers. The house has a 2700 sq ft basement constructed of Superior Walls precast concrete – this should keep the basement drier and more moderate in temperature than a standard basement as the walls are insulated and more watertight from the beginning. The main floor is 2000 sq feet and the second floor is 2500 sq ft. (The square footages are correct as the basement extends under the garage). There is the very real possibility that we will not be finishing the basement immediately.

Air handlers will be two GeoThermal Water Furnace ENVISION series 6-ton dual speed (6 and 4 tons in high and low compressor modes respectively) with MERV 11 filters. These will handle: Second floor for one ENVISION unit, main floor and basement for the second ENVISION unit.

Both the basement and the main floor will have fully furnished kitchens.

Insulation will be Icynene spray-in foam insulation.

I have a knowledgeable HVAC guy, but I like to stay on top of the issues.

The issues:

First: I would like to keep my indoor relative humidity around 48% during these hot and humid months in Georgia. This would help control mold growth as I am sure some of our personal belongings, even though they were professionally cleaned, will still carry some contamination.

Second: Obviously the house will need mechanical ventilation. I have looked into ERV’s; however, the energy exchange isn’t that impressive as going from 95 degree air to 75 degree air just doesn’t gain you that much energy savings (as opposed to the great white north where HRV’s exchange 70 degree inside air with -10 degree outside air – quite a temperature difference) Also, none of the ERV’s have stellar moisture removal properties – most seem to give a portion of the outside air’s humidity to the outgoing dry stream from the house. As far as I can tell, this just increases my moisture load the A/C units will have to deal with.

Third: I want to avoid tying the whole house dehumidifier into the second floor heat-pump if at all possible because I don’t want do circulate air through ductwork in the attic (thus heating it substancially in the summer) unless it is being actively conditioned by the air handler.

Forth: Mild winters may make ERV’s’s or HRV’s virtually meaningless anyway as the heat recovery is negligable with temperature differences of 25 to 30 degrees from indoor to outdoor temps.

All that being said, here are the questions:

1. How big of a unit do I realistically need and will any size unit give me meaningful help, even if it is only a 90 pint system?

2. Will the unit help dehumidify the whole house even if it is only directly tied into the basement and main floor HVAC system?

3. Related to question 2: Do we need to run a small amount of the dehumidified air upstairs into the second floor via separate ducts (ducts not connected into the second floor HVAC system) and, if so, how much in duct size (i.e., two 4 inch circular metal duct runs) needs to go upstairs?

4. Can any of these systems interface with more than one humidistat? Specifically, if any one humidistat needs dehumidifying, can it alone trigger the dehumidifier?

5. What effect does the whole house dehumidifier have on the HVAC sizing and what modifications will need to be made to any “Model J” calculations?

Thank You.

Seasonal moisture loads Baton Rogue

Ken — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:48:27 GMT

Testing Season greeetings Ken

don't hesitate on purchasing the santa fe!

fasteddie717 — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:32:04 GMT

I had a very moist basement for the first five years of owning my home. During heavy rains I would get a lot of water. My basement had that nasty smell and the walls were always moist. I got the water problem fixed recently but it still felt moist and smelly. I then purchased the Santa Fe and within a couple of days every thing changed. My basement is at a constant 30 to 35% humidity level. My basement feels better then upstairs and has no smell at all. I like how the Santa Fe is very well built and it seems very durable. It was well worth the investment. Thanks!

Good technical advice and answers from Ken

kkopp — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:48:47 GMT

I just wanted to share my experience in getting good technical advice and answers to questions upon calling Therma-Stor a week ago. I need to provide mechanical ventilation to bring fresh air into a home I'm building and couldn't find anyone locally who had much experience in doing this. I will have AC throughout the house using split systems and live in a hot humid climate. I had been considering using an ERV but then found Therma-Stor and the XT-350 DeHumidifier and Ventilation unit. Upon calling Therma-Stor, I ended up speaking with Ken who was able to provide me with great insight and information on the best way to go about combining AC, Fresh Air, and Dehumidification. Thank you Ken!

Fresh air during winter.

Brian E — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:34:45 GMT

Hello.

I have a few questions.

1) Would you recomend adding a fresh air intake to a well built, well insulated, all brick 2800 sq. ft. ranch located in northern Indiana? (Near Notre Dame)

2) If so would you bring in fresh air all year long? I have been contemplating having one of your whole house dehumidifiers installed that has the ability to bring in fresh air.

3) Would the unit be able to dehumidify the basement as well as the main floor? I would like to eliminate my portable dehumidifier in the basement.

4) Would the unit run independant of the HVAC? I was hoping to dehumidify the house when the outside temp is 70 degrees or below and the humidity level outside is above 50%.

5) Would you suggest integrating my Honeywell F500 bypass hepa unit into the dehumidifier? The F500 shows a installation option using a ERV.

6) During the winter months, is it possable to use the fresh air feature of the dehumidifier to bring in fresh air?

Thank you for your help.

Duct Kit Question

gabes — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:50:35 GMT

I will be purchasing the Santa Fe whole basement dehumidifier within the next 1-2 months as we are currently in the process of finishing our basement.

I would like to put together my own duct kit (I'll put the Santa Fe in an unfinished space and draw air from the finished space). Would you be able to tell me what type (materials of construction) of flex duct you'd recommend attaching between the unit and the wall register? Would an insulated duct help at all with airflow noise that could possibly occur from the Santa Fe sucking air through the register? Any input on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

Condensate Pump

Installed — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:00:56 GMT

I have a APD 100-v dehumidifier that was installed about 2 years prior. The condensate line drains into a condensate pump which is hooked up to a drain line.

I've noticed that the safety switch is not wired into the system and would like to do it now (my furnace pump recently overflowed and created quite a bit of damage). I have a DEH 2000 controller with the system. Where should the switch hook into from the thermostat wires?

Need makeup air source for clothes dryer

Lee — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:56:38 GMT

Hi there,

We have rebuilt an older home which is very small, only 1 br, 750 sq ft., and made the home very tight and well-insulated. All was well until we got our clothes dryer installed and started running it. It sucks so much air out of the house, we can feel it blowing in at the electrical outlets. We really don't want to be pulling our fresh air into the home through the wall cavities as the quality of that air is pretty bad. The dryer is installed in a closet, we are wondering if you have a fresh air vent we could install in the outside wall of this closet to provide air for the dryer so it doesn't suck all the air out of the rest of the house. Or if the fresh air vents can't supply that much air, if you have another idea. We do not have a central heating system to attach anything to. Thanks.

Weather data for local areas

Ken — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:57:44 GMT

Tring to display weather data for various parts of the country. This Madison WI Sept-Oct. The interesting part is that this is outdoor dew point. When the dew point is +50^F, dehumidification is needed to maintain <50%RH in the home. Here goes. Ken

Heat Pump Water Heater

hydronics — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:43:48 GMT

Thremastor has several types of Heat Recovery Water Heaters designed to except super heated refrigerant vapor.

I am interested in using the Therma-stor water heater in conjunction with a 2-ton York Heat Pump to supply hot water to a residential radiant heating application.

The documentation for the Heat Recovery Water Heater does not recommend using the Water Heater in lieu of an air or water condenser. Can a system be designed to allow the water heater to transfer the 2 tons (~24,000 BTUH) available from a residential Heat Pump?

Thanks in advance for any interest in this application.

Tom Hudson
Energy Engineer
Portland, Oregon

Humidex system

dogdoc — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:18:23 GMT

Just installed my 2nd ultraaire in the new home; heard of this today; how do they differ; this says that they DO NOT remove water from the air but takes the whole molecule of water with the air; no drain etc, make sense? Dogdoc, Atlanta

Free Temperature & Humidity Meter

jgrove — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:50:40 GMT

I sent in the warranty card on 8/24/07. I have not yet received the meter. I also purchased another dehumidifier for my father-in -law at the same time and he received his meter a couple of weeks ago. What do I need to do?

Condensation on Sante Fe Advance drain line

Stu — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:41:54 GMT

My Sante Fe Advance has condensation forming on drain line. The drain line is looped to create a trap and I can see/hear water flowing thru drain line to PVC drain. Crawlspace floor has a 12mil liner that was cut to feed drain line to PVC drain. I've ducted the system. Currently, I'm finishing off installing the liner. Humidity runs around 59 to 63%, expect it to improve once the soil is completely covered and crawlspace closed. Need suggestion how to reduce drain line condensation, I've considered cutting a hole in liner and placing drain line underneath liner. Thoughts?

Thanks

UA 100V

Karen — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:54:08 GMT

I purchased a home last year that has the apd 100-v dehumidifier. It is about 2.5 years old and is located in the basement. My ventilation/humidity control panel is located upstairs on the main level. My home is about 4000 sq ft. Question: I live in the Atlanta area-what is the recommended programming of the unit? I currently am running it on auto, medium setting..4 hours from 1am to 4 am and mid afternoon for 4 hours. Is this too much or too little?

Thanks, Karen

zoned in So. Calif

ron_of_orange — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:11:40 GMT

hi @ Thermastor

Fyi: I'm a rookie, I just bought the Santa Fe Advance Unit with a Duct Kit and will modify the control Dehumidistat for remote operation. This is going to be a project.

An Existing Forum topic I found and pasted here for reference is:

quote: A thermostat controlling the a/c with a dehumidistat controlling the dehumidifier provide a desired temperature & %RH without conflict. On
hot days, the a/c operates enough to provide dehumidification. As the cooling declines on cooler days the %RH exceeds the set point and the
dehumidifier picks up the slack. On cool damp days, the dehumidifier controls %RH. endquote

I'm assuming the above is pretty much OK to start, now this...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My Comments: I'm thinking that HOT & HUMID days may not be handled as well as wished for in my Southern California Coastal Environment

My Question: Can this basic assumption be better controlled with a "staged" control system?

My proposed concept as follows:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the Summer Season
STAGE ONE

Power on (via Selector Switch set to Manual) located in my control panel with zoned damper control devices as required.

Run dehumidifier for effect to preset position (driest), switched off via timer (time delay relay contact adjustable from 0 sec to say 1/2 hour).

Power to dehumidifier has timed off or met preset limit as determined by de-humidistat.

STAGE TWO

Start A/C only after dehumidifier has shutdown via (the same time delay relay used as permissive device). A/C runs normal operation as determined

by preset thermostat. A/C meets set point and shutsdown.

My Comments:
I'm thinking that HOT & HUMID days may not be handled as well as wished for in my Southern California Coastal Environment.
Solution...pre-condition the warm humid air prior to running A/C. Add fresh air intake from the crawl space below the house for first 10 minutes via

damper control system.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Winter season
AS follows:
STAGE ONE

Power on (via Selector Switch set to Auto) located in my control panel with zoned damper control devices as required.

Run dehumidifier for effect to pre-set position (50-60% RH). Using relay make/break (NO/NC) contact(no time delay required)

STAGE TWO
A/C runs normal operation as determined by pre-set thermostat.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My Comments:
This isn't meant to be some grand control scheme. Basically just a interlock feature to prevent both devices from running simultaneously.

I'm thinking there is some benefit to using the dehumidifier to lower the RH and the electrical loads. Since most A/C systems are heavy consumers

of electricity I'm choosing to minimize the electrical load as much as possible and to maximize the use of the dehumidifier.

Thanks in advance for all feedback,

ron

1:09 PM,PDT

Humidistat

nancy108 — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:59:47 GMT

Ken,

I know that I am getting a free humidity guage from the company, but tell me about the honeywell humidistat? Is that worth considering in a basement situation? As you may recall my basement is unfinished now, but I suspect I may refinish a part of it and duct my unit, probably maybe about 600-700 square feet of the 1000 square foot basement. Right now the unit is running on automatic but since the basement needs a good drying out, it is running continously with the control now set at about 8:00. I guess that is in the vicinity of 50% not really sure.

Nancy

Santa Fe Basement Unit vs Humidex

mdkappy — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:04:57 GMT

I'd like to understand better the differences between a Humidex system and the Santa Fe basement unit. I live in New Jersey where we get very high humidity in the summer. My basement is musty - I've been using a Sears dehumidifier for years which, by now, is not working too well. I've got to get the basement dry and usable again (it's finished). I'm not too happy that I would have to put a vent on our basement door and knock out part of our exterior wall to install the Humidex. However, I really want to go with the best possible solution to our very humid basement problem. The top two levels of our house are air conditioned with a top of the line Lennox system. I would appreciate your comments and assistance.

unfinished basement dehumidifier/radon/size unit/ questions

nancy108 — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 18:29:49 GMT

hello, I found your forum I have and unfinished basement/with bulkhead access in New england that I am having waterproofed by B-Dry as water is now coming in from the floor,I am at bottom of hill, water table high, ledge etc.. the system is the complete interior sealed drain with dual sump/ sealed system for radon. I also have a radon mitigation system which sucks the air out through the floor into a pipe and is vented out through the roof. The basement smells from the recent floods, had about 5 inches of water everywhere and now the walls and floor are definitely damp and stinky going on 8 or 9 weeks. I store nothing in the basement.Every time it rains the water comes in or at least trys to come in. After I have the waterproofing done, which will take out the water, I wanted to put in the Santa Fe and feed it into the pump. Not sure which model to chose, basement if 28 feet by 36 feet. Also what about noise? I am not intending to finish the basement. ALso how does this affect, if at all, the whole radon issue. Thanks for any feedback

Basement Santa Fe - Need duct kit?

WineTravel — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:30:23 GMT

I am about to order a Santa Fe Basement Unit and wanted to make sure the design is proper. Have a large unfinished basement and one part of the basement is finished The finished area (playroom) is about 800 sq ft... unfinished area is about 1500 sq ft. The installer will put the unit in the unfinished part near the wall separating the 2 spaces. He recommended a small vent cutout with a grate on the wall but said I didn't need the duct kit. He said the vent cutout can be located anywhere on the wall, so will do it lower on the wall for asthetic purposes. There is also a door between the 2 spaces so guess some air is exchanged in the small space under the door. They will also install a condensate pump and punch through the concrete wall to the outside for drainage (the basement is below ground).

Like the design? No duct kit necessary? Is there a preferred place to put the vent in the wall (high/low)?

Here's a rough diagram...

______________________________________________________

| |

| SantaFe |

| Dehumid |

| |

Playroom | |

| |

Door |

| |

_____Door______________________ | |

Mechanicals |

Heat/Air |

U n f i n i s h e d S p a c e |

______________________________________________________|

Thanks, Steve

location/oil furnace up on blocks?

nancy108 — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:24:59 GMT

Ken

Is it a problem to put the Santa Fe within 6 feet of an oil furnace?, also how far from a wall can it be? Can it be placed on 4" cement patio blocks in the basement ? Thanks

Santa Fe HC

mcrist — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:41:30 GMT

I have a Santa Fe HC unit installed in my basement that has the fan running constantly. I have the switch turned to auto so that the fan should only turn on when the compressor is on. This worked fine for the first several months of operation but now the unit is always running and it never shuts down. It doesn’t have any problems keeping the humidity where it is supposed to be but I want to stop wasting electricity.

I also wanted to know what type of yearly maintenance I could do to keep the dehumidifier running for a very long time. I replace the filter 3 times a year but would like to see what else I could be doing. The manual didn’t state any service items but the installer offered a yearly maintenance plan that I would prefer to do myself. I purchased this unit after setting up a large 450 gallon fish tank in my home. The tank evaporates about 5 gallons of water daily so I know the dehumidifier has a pretty good workout.

Thanks
Mark

Santa Fe Location

cody — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:42:42 GMT

The Santa Fe was installed in my basement utility room right next to my gas furnace. I'm concerned about the location of this unit being so close to the furnace itself. Will this be a problem in the winter months when the furnace is running? Should the Santa Fe be relocated or is it safe where it is? Thanks in advance.

Purchasing in Canada and NOISE

frmichaud — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:57:54 GMT

I am in Montreal in canada and want to purchase Santafe or a Ultra-Aire 100V

Where can i buy in Canada?

I also want to know the noise producec by both units in dB

When out is ducted?

How efficient is the Ulta aire isolation Kit? can it be use on the Santa Fe

Thanks

Ducting Santa Fe.....

chrisexv6 — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:56:51 GMT

Want to hook up the duct kit so I can dehum 2 separate areas of my basement. Couple questions:

1. The areas are separated by a wall. Half is finished half is unfinished (the dehum resides in the unfinished side). Can I run a duct to the finished side, and just leave the other 6" inlet open to the air in the unfinished side? (pretty sure this is fine, just want to check)

2. To duct to the finished side, do I need to use insulated flex, or can I get away with rigid round duct? The rigid stuff is much easier to come by but Ill look for insulated flex if need be.

Thanks.

-Chris

90-100-135-150--which system?

SavannahHome — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 11:05:28 GMT

Trying to figure out which system is best for my situation. House is 5500 ft sq. But the two of us live in 2500 ft sq(home only at night) (away 3 months of year)--other rooms(Rug floors) are above and closed off and on seperate ac systems. My original objective was to futher reduce the RH in the crawl. Now I am as much interested in 1. my hardwood floors, 2.outside air for positive pressure and 3. RH reduction in the house.

Thanks, I see my AC dude next week

which unit to purchase?

brunogolf — Sat, 05 May 2007 08:28:32 GMT

Hi .

I live in Dallas Texas, a hot humid climate and would like to purchase a whole house dehumidifier i have a 3200 square foot downstairs and 800 square foot up, and have 3 systems of hvac in house 2 downstairs and 1 up, can a whole house unit such as your 150 model be connected to all three units? and would this be sufficient for proper dehumidification? Also i have contacted several dealers in my area that are listed on your website however some are no longer in business or they are pushing me towards Aprilaire and Honeywell, could you give me a list of dealers that purchase and install a large volume of your units?

Jeff

Ultra Aire system, which one?

dogdoc — Tue, 08 May 2007 19:12:22 GMT

Hi Ken, Max here in Atlanta; my new HVAC guy , Chase has spoken to you last week about a system for my house; you may recall I have a system in my current home that we sold today; he says the UA 95 is for 2200 sq ft while the UA 135 is for 3200Sq ft; am I close? The hosue we are buying is about 2200 now plus 700 basement; but after renovation we will be adding about 275 more sq ft......90 pints a day or more?we are replacing the whole HVAC system with a Trane 13 seer 90% variable spped furnace and a whole house humdifier as well....dogdoc

No condensate.....

chrisexv6 — Fri, 04 May 2007 06:12:52 GMT

Just got my Santa Fe basement dehum (the 100 pint/day model).

I had it running for about 2 hours, but noticed no condensate coming out. The only thing I can think of is that its a little cool in the area its located (t-stat says 67 degrees, so its not downright cold). I do know its sorta humid......the compressor kicked in with the knob about 3/4 of the way to the Off position. Compressor doesnt cycle, it does stay running, I just dont get any water coming out. I pulled the side panel off quickly to make sure the hose was connected OK, and it was....I did notice there was frost on the accumulator (the bigger of the round cylinder type parts).

Could there be something wrong?

-Chris

DEalers in Atlanta

dogdoc — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:06:39 GMT

Hi Ken; Moncrief no longer sells your systems; who can you suggest that can sell/install an ultra aire system AND install a whole NEw A/C-Furnace system at the same time?;)....Dogdoc, Atlanta

Do I have a UA control panel?????????

dogdoc — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:44:42 GMT

I have an UA dehud. unit that was bought about 3.5 years ago here in Atlanta thru Moncrief heating and AIr; it originally came with a small stainless digital control mounted on the wall with a fresh air option; it was always going out so last Fall they put in this NICE white face digiatl unit mounted in my finished basement area;it has a red light and green light(on and off).........you can set the humid/dampercontrol/etc, now we are moving and I want to get the same control for the new house but I am NOT sure this was an upgrade from Therma Stor..OR A GENERIC???..PS I have been advised to buy Aprilaire or Honeywell but they are no longer recommending your product which I think has been great....any idea; I hear Honeywell's failue rate is up but is 35% more efficient than Aprilaire.........dogdoc, Atlanta PS can my new HVAC contractor get a system from you with tech support; says he has never installed one but I like his repuation; I am looking at compatability for TRANE or CARRIER; new A/C and Furnace!!!!!!!! $$$$$$$$:w00t:

What's the best way to program our Ultra-Aire 150H?

Vieth — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:59:20 GMT

We just moved into our new home with an Ultra-Aire 150H. Everything seems to be working just fine. Now I'm wondering what's the best way to program/control the Ultra-Aire 150H.

Because of all the construction dirt and dust around the house, we would like to keep the windows and doors closed at all times. We're hoping that the Ultra-Aire 150H can be used to help keep the air inside the house fresh and circulated.

If we have the fan set to "ON" will the fan run all the time? And if the damper is set to "ON" will that fan be bringing in fresh air the entire time, too? Then, in addition, can we use the programming features to do a "dry down" once a day for a few hours, and not dehumidify the rest of the time? If so, is that a good approach?

Finally, if we run the fan in our Ultra-Aire 150H a lot, will that be hard on the unit? ...shorten the life? ...or not something to worry about?

Thanks!

- John