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Who uses those ultrasonic pond fogger thingies?

  • #41
A couple of people on here use those reptifogger things. They look solid, and the flexible hose is pretty convenient, but considering what they are they're a little overpriced, IMHO.

I went ahead and bought myself a Sunpentown SU-2000 after much flip-flopping. In the end, the simple fact that it's more cost effective than purchasing two or three disc foggers won out. It cost like $60 whereas the least I could have expected to pay for a bucket fogger setup was about $70 (at least two discs, a fan, a bucket, and some PVC pipe). I expect the result to be... well, not a whole lot different.

I'll let you know how things look once I get everything rigged up and fogging away.

I also threw in a Hygrotherm on that order so I can control the humidifier more precisely. New toys!! :banana2:
 
  • #42
Fury, you should expect the following to happen:

1) Tank hot/warm.
2) Turn on fogger and fans, evaporative cooling initiates.
3) As cooling progresses, RH will begin to rise.
4) Cooling completes, RH continues to rise.
5) RH reaches 99%
6) Condensation occurs, at this time fogger can be turned off.
7) RH will begin to decline as fans continue pushing air out.
8) Temp may begin to rise, at this point turn on the fogger again.

this might be best accomplished by putting the fogger on a timer. frequency of how often the foggerr turns on will depend upon what temp you want your terra to go down to. i hope this helps.
 
  • #43
Excellent - that's what I'm going for, for sure. Hopefully the hygrotherm will help me automate this process. Thanks!
 
  • #44
I will be getting only one fan for my new setup...Should I have it blowing air into the tank or sucking air from the tank?
 
  • #45
If I had to choose, I'd get one fan to blow fresh air across as many plants as possible. But I think it's important to have an intake fan to get fresh air to your plants but also an output fan to exhaust hot air off of hotspots in your setup (I have two intake fans on my 4-shelf, 18" x 48" rack and one exhaust fan above the ballasts of the lights on my top shelf). I've also got two extra fans just to circulate the air inside the rack. Might be overkill, and the noise is annoying, but so far I've been running my humidifier for way longer in a stretch than conventional wisdom would deem wise, but haven't had the corresponding problems with mold or rot that one might expect.
 
  • #46
I will probably have an opening at the opposite end of the fan so it blows the hot air through the hole. Its a pretty large fan for a 20 gallon tank so it should be sufficient...Do you think I should keep it on most of the day at a very low level so there is constantly moving air?
 
  • #47
I sure would, but I would defer to others for more opinions. Not only is it beneficial for temperature control, but decent airflow is a must for lots of the plants you're interested in growing... namely Helis. Of course constant airflow would likely necessitate some sort of measures to augment humidity particularly considering that you live in a place where white stuff falls from the sky in the winter time. Lucky for you, you're posting this question in a thread about precisely that topic ;)
 
  • #48
I don't allow the fog to sit anymore. I've moved onto having a fan blow across the plants, and another blowing the fog coming from the tube. The plants really appreciate the change. Just FYI..
 
  • #49
I have 2 fans, 1 fan in the intake tube and one in the tank to just circulate the air.
My mister doesn't get hot at all. Its based off of vibrating the ceramic disk fast enough to make the water turn into vapor droplets. So really no heat here. I even have a heat cable to get it up to 80F. My tank is in the basement so it stays pretty cool down there and that's why I have to heat it.
 
  • #50
Bah, I don't know how I missed this.

I use one of the pond-fogger-in-a-bucket setups. I absolutely love it. I've got it running in an entire room (no enclosed rack) and it pulls off 99% humidity in there. The downside is that it absolutely roars through water. It's eating about 4-5 gallons a day. O_O That could be a huge problem for someone without an RO unit. The nice thing about them, though, is that they are kind of adjustable. Widen or narrow the passage the fog escapes the bucket through, and you lower the amount that leaves the bucket, pretty simple. Can be achieved with a ball valve if you want super controllable fog. This allows it to go through far less water.
 
  • #51
Alrighty, sunpentown su 2000 is just not available online for a decent price. And in decent I mean less than 50$. So does anyone have any experience with cheap walgreens/walmart humidifiers?
I'm looking for something to add to my shelve because with evoparative humidifier that I have now once the lights are on humidity drops to 45% and with lights off the max is 70%.

Crane Cool Mist Humidifier (1 gal capacity) - 44$
85468900168_220x220_a.jpg
 
  • #52
I just went to my local big box store and got a "vick's cool mist humidifier".
Add a timer and yer all set.
 
  • #53
I have a Walgreens humidifier that I used for a little over a year before chopping it up for experimentation. I believe mass has a Walgreens one as well (isn't that statement somewhere in this thread?) that he's used for years and likes.

EDIT: Yup...

mass said:
I also use an ultrasonic fogging humidifier in my HL GH. Walgreens brand, $25.. been using it 12 hours a day for 6 years with no problems.
Click to expand...
 
  • #54
_ReApEr said:
I have a Walgreens humidifier that I used for a little over a year before chopping it up for experimentation. I believe mass has a Walgreens one as well (isn't that statement somewhere in this thread?) that he's used for years and likes.

EDIT: Yup...
Click to expand...

Hmm so I got that Crane ultrasonic humidifier. I am not familiar with ultrasonic humidifiers so I can't really compare I guess, but to me it looks a bit weak.

Humidifiers "exhaust" hole is barely 2cm in diameter and on full the mist rises about 10 inches at 45deg angle. It looks like the fan that is installed in the unit is rather weak. So I'm planing to "void" the warranty and disassemble the unit tonight to see whether I can replace the fan, adjust its speed, or maybe remove some restrictors installed in place.

I was hoping to use this unit to "humidify" all my three shelves. But it looks like it will be barely enough for one.

Maybe a bit of a vague question, but how good are the walgreens ones?
 
  • #55
maybe u should return it and get a better unit

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

this might work better http://www.ebay.com/itm/Holmes-HM18...040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c60ad9a80

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------

or something like this

---------- Post added at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 AM ----------

.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Honeywell-HE360A-Whole-House-Powered-Humidifier-/170729152636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c040207c
 
  • #56
MICKEY said:
maybe u should return it and get a better unit

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

this might work better http://www.ebay.com/itm/Holmes-HM18...040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c60ad9a80

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------

or something like this

---------- Post added at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 AM ----------

.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Honeywell-HE360A-Whole-House-Powered-Humidifier-/170729152636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c040207c
Click to expand...

The unit was shipped to me. Returning it will be a hassle (calling target and arranging the return, sending back and paying for shipping, waiting for money to be refunded, dealing with customer service that is bound to eff things up). I think I might improve it instead.

The unit in first link is not ultrasonic humidifier :( it is evaporative, that is similar to what I have now.
The second link is also evaporative and a bit of an overkill.

Thanks for effort though.
 
  • #58
Hey gill_za, I use a Sunbeam ultrasonic humidifier in my 6.5' x 6.5' grow tent and it works wonderfully. On the lowest setting with all the lights on humidity stays around 70%, when the lights go off and it keeps running and humidity increases to 90%+. I refill every night, but would probably last 30-36 hours before it ran dry, and if it does run dry it shuts off automatically.

This is the one I use, the nice thing is, if your using it with a humidistat it doesn't need to be turned back on like the programable humidifiers. 1.5 gallon tank capacity, no filters.

http://www.sunbeam.com/ca/productdetail.aspx?section=health-and-home&line=sunbeam&cid=1894&pid=6394
 
  • #59
I have a question...
(I would PM you on it, but I do think it a good thing for others to consider/understand also.)
based on my own humid experience,

Where will all the excess humidity go? ???

Especially if using a fogger/ultrasonic humidifier...

I only ask, as depending on your set-up, a high humidity can either be kept in,
or vented into the room. While I have found that some plants need the extra humidity,
(or especially the cooling effects of "evaporative-cooling", for things like Heli's & such)
but some plants can do with a lot less humidity otherwise.

In the winter I have found it adds a nice level of humidity to the house,
but when I close my room off or in the summer, it feels like a jungle in the room.
Hot & Humid!
I actually like it, but it probably isn't the best things for the house itself.
(One reason I am reworking my old shelving set-up as it got to be an issue with the way I had it.)

Well, just some things to consider... :scratch:

I just want to keep you thinking! You are putting in a great effort,
and I want to be sure you get the most out of it!
(Currently I am reworking the rework I already did! It didn't pass my testing & I don't like the results yet,
so about a weeks worth of work is now being redone... again!)
Oh well, it is thru adversity that we get to learn the most!
Good Luck!
:water:
 
  • #60
You make a good point in that it isn't good for the house. I'm no contractor, but if I'm not mistaken, high humidity can do quite some damage to drywall pretty quickly. If I remember correctly, though, TheFury (gill_za, too, I think) has an enclosed rack, which keeps it mostly contained. And that's definitely the way to go. If not a rack, something else (like an indoor greenhouse to take it to the extremes) to keep the humidity contained, otherwise you're risking a lot in terms of humidity damage to the house.

EDIT: But I just LOVE walking into the plant room at night and it's 50 degrees and 99% humidity... it feels so... fresh. I dunno, lol. Like it feels after a bad thunderstorm.
 
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