Dehumidifier in your honey house or kitchen.

[kighill]

I have been advised that is is advantageous to have a dehumidifier running in the room where Honey is being prepared.
My honey room is currently showing the humidity level of 72 whilst in my living room it is currently 52. The honey room is only fitted with a greenhouse heater at the moment to prevent the water pipes from freezing, the humidity can go higher than this.
It would appear the humidity in my honey house is to high at the moment for honey preparation so I have bought a humidifier from Screwfix. This was on offer reduced from about £150 to £100.
Having unpacked the humidifier I have found the lowest level I can set is a humidity level of 50.
I am thinking a lower setting than this would be better say 40?
My plan at the moment was to make some creamed (soft set) honey using my new creaming machine.
If the recommendation is a lower setting than it can obtain I will return it.
My question is
Do you use a humidifier and if so what humidity level do you set it at?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Do you use a humidifier and if so what humidity level do you set it at?

Yes...30

 

[kighill]

Yes...30

Thank you Pete, what make is this please?
I have checked another which is one recommended by Which magazine and that one only went down to 40.

 

[user 6228]

an electric heater a single glazed window and a sponge make a dehumidifier
use the sponge to wipe the window and take it out of the room with you to wring out.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thank you Pete, what make is this please?
I have checked another which is one recommended by Which magazine and that one only went down to 40.

The one used in the honey extracting room is an Igenix IG9805.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Igenix-IG9...485014816&sr=8-4&keywords=igenix+dehumidifier

Then we have a more powerful Ebac, but that is used for timber not honey.

 

[taurus]

Look for a dessicant dehumidifier. They work better at lower temperatures and can reply pull more moisture out of the air compared to refrigerate types.

 

[oliver90owner]

First of all, in what situation?

Low humidity is important only if trying to reduce the water content.

Simple precautions, such as not spreading the honey while dealing with it (ie by keeping the surface area, open to the atmosphere, at a minimum) for long periods are simple common sense.

If you are wishing to reduce the water content, a compressor dehumidifier is just as good as a desiccant type - as the temperature of the room will need to be elevated to encourage evaporation.

Here is a question: What is the humidty of air below zero Celsius? 100% or 0%? The answer might be confusing to many.

Honey is hygroscopic but the watef content will not increase while dispensing into jars, per eg, unless those jars are left open far too long.

As for dehumidification, think sensibly. Humidity depends on temperature, given no other changes. Ventilation is the simple way to reduce humidity in many situations. Burning any normal fuel, apart from pure carbon (coke or anthracite, effectively) will produce water as a product of combustion.

'Greenhouse heater' means nothing. It could be an electric one or a fuel burning appliance.

Desiccant humidifiers are most certainly better at lower temperatures (below about 16 Celsius). Running costs may be twice that of a similarly specified compressor dehumidifier, but one needs to consider the 'standard testing conditions' to understand the pros and cons of each.

I cannot envisage honey storage being a problem from humidity, as long as it is not excessive. Heating this cold room (presumably at present) would lower the humidity considerably, as would electric heating rather than fuel burning heating. Forced ventilation would clear the room in a very short time.

 

[Eyeman]

I have been advised that is is advantageous to have a dehumidifier running in the room where Honey is being prepared.

If your talking about extracting, bottling or creaming then you won't need a humidifier. Just don't forget to put the lids on the jars and storage buckets and you'll be fine.

 

[user 6228]

First of all, in what situation?
...

Honey is hygroscopic but the watef content will not increase while dispensing into jars, per eg, unless those jars are left open far too long.

....

Everything this post is essentially correct. However I would like to point out that If you get rapidly changing temperatures its possible to get condensation on the honey, the same way you get condensation on tools in a shed that changes temperature quickly. This because the honey will change temperature more slowly than the the surrounding air and you can get a situation where the honey is below the dew point. Depending on the details of the room, its heating and ventilation and the weather , this can vary from impossible to very likely.

 

[alldigging]

The honey room is only fitted with a greenhouse heater at the moment to prevent the water pipes from freezing, the humidity can go higher than this.

What sort of heater is it?

 

[viridens]

I think a dehumidifier is only needed if you are extracting uncapped honey and need to reduce the water content to the proper 'capped' level. Then you are better off making a poly tent so that the dehumidifier is in a confined space, preferably with pans with a large surface area, rather than drying the whole room which may be damp and drafty. As I hobby keeper I only once had enough uncapped frames from 6 hives to consider doing this.

On a side note, I don't like the damage and wear tumble driers do to my old togs, and in poor weather I dry washing by putting it on airers in small room with a dehumidifier.

 

[Eyeman]

Has anyone one considered the cost involved in running a humidifier?
We used to run one all year long to keep one if our basement rooms dry. Can't remember the model but is was a delonghi.
Costs worked out to be over £500 / year. Soon had the basement tanked and decorated!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Has anyone one considered the cost involved in running a humidifier?
We used to run one all year long to keep one if our basement rooms dry.

You would of done better using a dehumidifier, a humidifier is generally used to keep the humidity higher, keeps things more moist.

A humidifier is a device that increases humidity (moisture) in a single room or an entire building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidifier

 

[Little John]

There are two kinds of electrical dehumidifier - one has a compressor which runs continuously, chilling metal plates from which condensed water drips into a receiver. This sort of dehumidifier works ok under warm humid conditions, but not when it's really cold.

The second type generates much lower temperatures on it's metal plates, which results in the formation of frost/snow. In order to relocate this deposit into a receiver as liquid water, it's necessary to switch-off the compressor periodically to allow melting to take place and is thus easily identified by such compressor 'cycling', rather than running continously. This second type will remove moisture from the air at much lower temperatures than the first type, but they're also far more expensive to buy.
LJ

 

[kighill]

What sort of heater is it?

Sunhouse 80W Low Energy Eco Tubular Heater - 2ft Tube - Built In Stat Thermostat Cost £20.

I only use it at present to prevent the water pipes from freezing. (It brings the temperature up to around 5c.

If I set it onto full it warms the room quite nicely. I would have to warm the room up to use the humidifier which needs a minimum temp of 10c.

 

[Eyeman]

You would of done better using a dehumidifier, a humidifier is generally used to keep the humidity higher, keeps things more moist.

Thanks for pointing out the deliberate mistake !
Twas a dehumidifier I was meaning

 

[viridens]

Sunhouse 80W Low Energy Eco Tubular Heater - 2ft Tube - Built In Stat Thermostat Cost £20.

I only use it at present to prevent the water pipes from freezing. (It brings the temperature up to around 5c.

If I set it onto full it warms the room quite nicely. I would have to warm the room up to use the humidifier which needs a minimum temp of 10c.

Wow. I wish I could heat any room/shed "quite nicely" with just an 80W heater. It must be well insulated. Is it carved out of a polystyrene block?

 

[kighill]

Wow. I wish I could heat any room/shed "quite nicely" with just an 80W heater. It must be well insulated. Is it carved out of a polystyrene block?

It's is constructed of Cedar 19or22mm thick attached onto 100mm x 50 mm frame which is insulated with 100mm of a celotex type insulation then plasterboard and skimmed with plaster.
The roof is again plasterboard with 250mm of insulation. The entrance is via a stable door and a further internal door to keep bees out when I start extracting. However the windows are only single glazed.
Hot water is being installed in the next few days. I have fitted a toilet and sink in a separate room. The extracting area is fitted with kitchen units and a sink.
Should I need further heat I can use another electric heater for back up.