What Is the Best Method for Indoor Humidity Control?

Growing indoors provides full control over the environment, letting growers grow their crops year-round, regardless of season, always maintaining optimal conditions.

Indoor growing is one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture, and there are plenty of good reasons for it.

But indoor cultivation has its challenges. Grow room climate control, as opposed to greenhouses, means completely creating the climate, without the ability to harness natural sunlight, or easily ventilate all day.

One of the biggest challenges in indoor grow rooms is humidity control.

 

The Challenges of Grow Room Humidity Control

cannabis indoor humidity control

Indoor cultivation is highly controlled. Growers have no choice but to tackle problems like humidity head-on, there are no easy alternatives.

In a cultivation setting, plants constantly transpire water, even overnight, when it’s pitch black. So humidity is always on the rise.

The biggest difference between grow rooms and greenhouses is the lack of sunlight. All lighting comes from powerful grow lights. These, along with other electrical equipment, raise the temperature. In general, grow rooms tend to operate at a higher temperature than greenhouses – around 26°C (79° F).

The increased temperature and radiation speed up the plants’ transpiration. So, grow rooms have to manage massive amounts of humidity, without being able to crack a window to easily vent it out.

 

Using a Dehumidifier for Indoor Humidity Control

The best method for indoor humidity control is dehumidification. But not all dehumidifiers are up for the challenge.

Most commercial dehumidifiers are designed for industrial use. But cultivation has its own set of challenges. A grow room dehumidifier needs to be able to quickly treat large amounts of humidity, that’s constantly pushing upwards, under the highly specific conditions indoor cultivation requires. Transpiration never stops, making humidity control a 24/7 task.

Space is much more precious indoors. In order to ensure zero humidity problems, grow room dehumidifiers need a large capacity, but in a small package. Versatile placement options are also a good idea for fully packed, dynamic growing facilities.

A dehumidifier can only control humidity as far as it reaches. Powerful fans and air circulation are a must to ensure a disease-free grow. The goal is a uniform climate, with low humidity all around. Any variance can lead to humid micro-climates, which cause humidity-related disease outbreaks, like botrytis or powdery mildew.

Many first-time indoor growers opt for HVAC systems as a solution for both temperature and humidity control. But the fact is that HVAC systems often aren’t enough to control indoor humidity 24/7. Attempting to do so means overrunning an overpowered HVAC system, at a high energy cost, without a guarantee of success.

 

The Benefits of Dehumidification for Indoor Humidity Control

Grow room dehumidifiers are designed to perform one task – control humidity, and they do it with extreme efficiency. Using the right dehumidifier can save 50-60% on energy, when compared to HVAC alone.

The best method for overall climate control in indoor grow rooms is to integrate both a dehumidifier and HVAC. Letting the dehumidifier control humidity, while the HVAC controls temperature, separately, is without a doubt the most efficient way to control your climate.

Complete control over the climate means avoiding dew point condensation at all costs. Succeeding at this can eliminate humidity-related diseases completely.

Combining high capacity dehumidification, with a powerful fan and air circulation system, which promotes climate uniformity, lets growers provide the best conditions to all plants. Even in dense placements (high leaf area index), no matter how far plants are from the dehumidifier.

Homogenous, optimal climate conditions mean uniform, high-quality product, with much larger yields.

 

DG-X – The Ultimate Indoor Grow Room Dehumidifier

In order to meet the needs of indoor growers, DryGair has developed the DG-X – a compact, yet powerful dehumidifier for indoor grow rooms and small greenhouses.

As a company that specializes in humidity control for horticulture, we understand growers’ needs. DG-X is engineered to provide all of the dehumidification necessary,
eliminating diseases and freeing up other climate control equipment to focus on their tasks efficiently.

 

DryGair’s DG-X provides:

  • Powerful water vapor extraction – 16 liters (4.2 gallons) per hourDG-X DryGair Dehumidifier
  • High energy efficiency – 3.5 liters (0.93 gallons) per kW
  • Low energy consumption – 4.5 kWh
  • Large coverage – 4,000 CFM
  • Small cubic shape to save space
  • Dynamic placement options – Can be hung or wheeled, in the center, or by a wall
  • 360° air circulation for climate uniformity
  • No humidity problems – no diseases
  • Optimized for common indoor growing conditions – 26°C (79° F) and 60% relative humidity
  • Fit for small greenhouses – maintains the same efficiency at common greenhouse
    conditions of 18°C (64°F) and 80% relative humidity

 

For more information about integrating DG-X in your grow room, please contact us.