Hot Rod Harmonicas

Basement Moisture Exhaust Fan…

…For the harp tech who wants some peace and quiet along with a dry basement.

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When I moved my harmonica shop into the basement of our new home in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, I had to start using a de-humidifier. Or so I thought. For two years I suffered through the noise and heat of the dehumidifier and  the nuisance of having to empty the water from the drain pan.

This year I moved my tuning area directly into the area where I kept the dehumidifier. I hated the thought of another summer of noise and heat, so I started looking for some other way to deal with the humidity.

I ran across this article: http://www.wildmanfarm.com/?p=750

It explains that the cold air with the most moisture collects at the lowest point in your basement and if you move that air out, you also get rid of most of the moisture.

So a quiet exhaust fan at floor level ends up doing a better job of getting rid of not only moisture but stale air in general.

It is a simple idea – an exhaust fan at floor level with a switch unit that measures the level of moisture in the air – a humidistat. You can set the humidistat to kick in when the humidity rises to a particular level. I ended up tuning the knob on this so it runs all the time.

So far, I love this rig and will never go back to the dehumidifier. This rig also uses a lot less electricity than the dehumidifier.

Sure makes it a lot more pleasant to tune harmonicas!

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4 Comments

  1. Preston

    June 23, 2013 - 1:31 am
    Reply

    Richard, I like the fan in the basement idea but feel the need to warn you about the negative air pressure created in the basement. This can draw carbon monoxide into the basement from chimneys and exhaust, and will increase the amount of radioactive cancer causing Radon gas in the house. If you reverse the air flow from outside to inside you will have pretty good results without the mentioned hazards because you create positive air pressure in the basement. Thank you for all of your great suggestions you have posted!.

    • rharp

      June 27, 2013 - 1:39 am
      Reply

      This is a very good point, Preston, thanks for bringing it up. In the article I read, they said to have a vent in the ceiling so it draws air in from the room upstairs in the house. I think as long as you are drawing air from upstairs you are OK.

  2. Ken

    June 27, 2013 - 10:20 am
    Reply

    Hi Richard… there is a commercially available product called “EZ Breathe Ventilation System” that I’ve been considering… a lot of good reviews.

    http://www.ezbreathe.com/

    I think it costs around $1500, but saves money on the electric bill.

    I always have to turn the dehumidifier off in my basement work shop when doing any harp tuning, and sometimes forget to turn it back on.

    I need a new roof first, but it is on my list of home improvements !

  3. frank

    June 27, 2013 - 12:03 pm
    Reply

    Richard, I wonder as an experiment – if you ran the de-humidifier while the Basement Moisture Exhaust Fan was working if the DH would still collect water?

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