Insulating the fishroom

Last year I invested in a few sheets of styrofoam and stuck it on the most cold walls. Also had them in an open walk through to the lounge .. they kept being bumped around. This year I decided to do get some plastic sheeting - double sided tape and closed the entrance that way.

I moved the couch (a bit of a storage rack at the moment) to stop the dogs from barreling through.



The main idea is to stop cold air entering the room.

I have done the same to a small window on the west side of the house .. previously I would plug all the windows with styrofoam but that means I have less daylight in the room.

Still considering what I want to do with big window ..

Later Ferdie

 

ah, so it is not to insulate so much, as to stop drafts?

 

Well - insulation was done via the styrofoam, but it failed due to air movement .. this is a test to see If I should add the foam panels back to get better insulation overall if the draft issue is sorted. One of my biggest heat losses is the 2.4 sqm glass plate window. I was thinking of doing the plastic barrier on it - but is seems like I will be sticking the foam down instead - well lets see how we do with the temp drop tonight.

Later Ferdie

 

Take windows and doors out and have them double glazed.

 

If you don't need the window to open at all the whole winter you could weatherise it ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft33T82ud8o

 

100% Jennifer but I have never seen the kit in ZA - Now I am doing it with 60micron sheeting and sticking it as a damp / air barrier.

LOL Zoom - I will do that when I build the fish room .. but I hate construction - actually - I like doing it myself but reality I no longer have the time to do it myself ..

So the sealing helped a bit today .. room temp at 20 degrees with only 1 tank running a heater at that temp at the moment.

Humidity a slight problem solid at 70%.


Outside temp - 14.1 @ 85% humidity
Lounge - next to the fish room 16.3 @ 80%

Insulation seems to be working OK.

The window that has the plastic seal - similar to the door way to the lounge has zero condensation nor does the plastic - good thing.

The BIG window has a bit of condensation ...



Ok it is soaking wet .. eish - sad thing is now I do not have a view of the out-side tanks.

So I need to make a plan to get that dry and sealed with an air barrier like I did for the small window and doorway.

Wonder what the power consumption is on a dehumidifier ?

Later Ferdie

 

If the rain ever stops and we have our usual dry highveld weather, this shouldn't be a problem.

 

ie. aircon?

 

Maybe - but I have 11 open tanks in the room - so that humidity is probably from tank evaporation more than from rain. Then again you might have a point -- hmm pump dry heated air into the room and exhaust the cold wet air .. let me go dig a bit.

Thx for sparking that thought.

Later Ferdie

 

Spot-on Tom ..

"Makeshift dehumidifiers Because air conditioners operate in the same basic way as dehumidifiers, window units are often used as makeshift dehumidifiers by sending their exhaust back into the room instead of outside. This produces the same result as using a dehumidifier, a room atmosphere that is much less humid but slightly warmer."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumidifier

 

Have not made time to look into the dehumidifiers but pondered the problem a bit more.

Simple solution would be to not have moisture in the air in the first place. This is not 100% but should help. 60 micron sheeting and fold back clips seemed the simplest.


Did a bunch of small tanks and 2 ft tanks, might do the rest later .. heat from the light might be an issue, but we will see how that goes.

Later Ferdie

 

Quick check this morning ... WOW this worked way better than I expected. So I will be doing the other tanks today at some stage.

Even the humidity in the room did not go above 57% @ 21oC so doing the rest of the tanks should help loads.



Thanks @Jenn @Tom.K - soundboarding the problem seems to have given me a cheap solution. Plastic sheeting R5 sq/m - fold back clips R6 for 8 ... less water vapor in the air should mean less thermal conductivity so this should help in keep the tanks better insulated.

Later Ferdie

 

hehe Ferdie, all this is actually going over my head, but if my chirp helped, great stuff!

 

LOL @Tom.K .. your chirp - made me dig into what the big difference is between aircon and a dehumidifier -> this got me looking at two different ways of achieving dehumidification -> onto having to do dehumidification in an environment that might have a low temperature - so the normal go buy at makro would not work -> so I needed a high performance desiccant dehumidifier and if you can source them in ZA they are very expensive .. a few sleep cycles later - stop the water from entering the room in the first place.

Well lights have been on for a few hours and it seems like all is well. I am truly amazed at the amount of condensation dripping back into the tank.

Later Ferdie

 

After this I will have 2 more 3ft tanks to cover .. I forgot to get more clips today -dope!

 

Hey Ferdie,

Sweet idea for insulating our tanks, I was thinking of buy 25mm poly sheets which I will put around my tanks at night then in the morning I will just remove the from piece so I can still see my fishes. My poly idea with your idea will be epic. I will get 2 pieces that is the length of my tank and 2 pieces for the sides I will then attach them to each other with those Velcro straps, so all I do in the morning is remove the front piece.

Will you be doing the same this year when winter hits us.

 

Sure you have seen these
And




SO I have tried a few things for insulation, at the moment the walls all have Styrofoam - I might get around to some roof insulation this year.

Styrofoam the sides and back - just add a blanket over the top and front.

What ever you do heed veegals warning Blanket over tank

 

Pretty! :laugh:

My wife would love this in the lounge.

 

OK been in the house for a few years now - and the fishroom - ah dining room has been occupied with tanks from 2007. Humidity is the killer in this room.

Time to do the selling - luckily stripping will not be much of a problem - thinking that taking the green machine and sucking it all up is the way to go.




I thinking that gluing some polystyrene selling tiles is the way to go here.

Later Ferdie

 

I would ditch the polistyrene ceiling tiles. Put a product called isoboard on the ceiling. Its not affected by damp and is already white so no painting required. Excellent thermal properties.