Maybe I'm too near the Atlantic Ocean? (11.5 miles).

Plug in some winter months, and take a look at last year's Woburn's humidity column.
WOBURN WEATHER CENTER - WU Station History
The peak humidity on many winter days is pretty dang high. :o

It does cause a few problems with the Sanyo's frosting up..

I have been looking at the closets with great interest..


We sent our teenage off to UMass Amherst many years ago. (1996)
She only comes back to use hot water, during grid failures.:p

1996 was back when we left the oil burner on 24/7.
Back when oil didn't cost an arm & leg.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ABl3WQP3-H...00/gasoil1.jpg
Wow, gas is pretty nice.. If you have it!

Watering the Mold Garden...
 

Daox,

From posts you've made about the low indoor wintertime humidity in your locale, it sounds like the prolonged intense cold really pulls a lot of water out of the air.

It sounds to me like there hasn't been a stellar effort to air-seal the living quarters from the attic at Xringer's place, so living space air migration into the attic should be expected. It also sounds like Xringer doesn't have anything like a heat exchange ventilator either, which would mix dry outside air with moist air in the house and lower inside humidity.



So the living room relative humidity could easily be at the upper level of comfort zone envelope.



When the living space air infiltrates into the attic and takes all the humidity with it, the lower temp of the attic can bring the attic air pretty close to 100% humidity, and liquid water (condensation) would form.



...and if the attic air (or even living space air) is piped down into the basement where the new water-heater is lowering the temperature, the chances of condensation are pretty high.

From his previous posts, Xringer has reported on problems with basement humidity, what with an open sump and also an installed dehumidifier... So the basement is already near the dew point and is also, from his descriptions, a flourishing mold garden.

-AC

The basement is periodically flooded during rain storms. Sometimes twice a year.

There is a swamp right behind our house (60' from the basement). Swamp Elevation is 185'.
The swamp is fed by spring fed pond (850' x 150'), 200 feet away @ eleva 185'.
There is a small stream about 125' from the basement. (Pond over-flow).
Many times there is running water in much of the swamp.

Elevation near the house is 191 feet. Our basement floor elevation is about 184'.

So, the water table is very close to my basement floor.
A lot of rain means my house will try to float.. (But it leaks).

Even without rain, you can sometimes see a darkening of the floor and it feels slightly damp.


The humidity in the living space isn't a problem.
Sometimes during cold weather, it gets pretty dry. We have a humidifier.
This past winter was so dry, we never needed to use it.

It's 122F in the attic right now, the ceilings of the living area are at 76.2F.
Room temp is 75.7F and 90F outdoors. (Sanyos lofting along).

It's dry up here, but pretty humid downstairs. The A7 is helping a little.
Maybe when it gets colder and the A7 runs longer, it will be drier down there.

We've been living with a damp basement for 39 years, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time worrying about it.
But, I would like to pump some cheap heat down there during the winter.. :D

We did two loads of wash today and recovery time was quick, as usual.

Today marks one week of being off the heating oil. Saved about 3.5 gallons (~ $14).
The log shows 6.625 kWh total ($1.08) has been used. Not too shabby! :)

The oil tank is 3/4 full. Around 200 gallons, or $800 :eek:

Curious - With the new water heating implementation and the heat pumps, how long do you expect that 3/4 tank to last?

Normally, that 200 gallons would last 400 days.

But, if we don't need any oil fired backup heat this winter, and the A7 works okay..
and we use a gallon per month for testing, it's going to last 16 years. :eek: I'll be 82 when we run out!

Humm, I might have to get some kind of diesel fuel preservative.
http://www.marineengine.com/products...s/1922254C.jpg

During the last 11 days, (or 264 hours) the A7 run-time is 16 hours.
It used 9.417 kWh, or $1.53, instead of $22 burning 5.5 gallons of oil.

Ave Room temp in the basement has been 74F, and it's still pretty humid down there.
But, not bad as it has been during other summers. (No flooding yet this summer).

One thing we have noticed, we are using a lot more hot water.
Now that we know how cheap it is, (14 cents a day) why not.?. :p

Spendthrift! :-)

Xringer wrote: During the last 11 days, (or 264 hours) the A7 run-time is 16 hours.
It used 9.417 kWh, or $1.53, instead of $22 burning 5.5 gallons of oil.

$1.53 OMG thats outragous!!! How can you justify that.! With the solar hot water 11 days works out to less than $0.75 Just kidding. WE are lucky being eco-renovators that we are able to do these things. Although I complain to my wife that I always have a tool in my hand. Like Xringer now, by applying some common sense and sweat equity we don't worry how long we are in the shower or running hot water for anything.

The only other guilt trip is, for me at least: Why did I wait so long to do this???

Congrats Xringer. Good job.