[Greenbuilding] dehumidifying bathrooms - makeup air?

Stephen Collette stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca
Mon Dec 18 07:41:37 CST 2017


Hello Reuben and all,

You seem to be looking for more passive strategies. I am wondering if you have considered building materials in the bathroom that could safely manage moisture, such as clay plaster, unfinished cork and wood? These strategies have been used for centuries with great success. I was in a bathroom in Florida of Helmut Ziehe, the founder of Building Biology in North America and in this tiny bathroom there was unfinished cork and wood details in the space (he was also an architect, it looked beautiful). I was the second person to take a shower in humid Florida and the mirror was clear when I stepped out of the shower. 

Clay plasters will do the same. They can absorb and adsorb the moisture in the air to balance out the indoor humidity. Once the conditions have changed they can desorb the moisture in the material into the air helping to maintain a more even internal humidity in the room. Because they can hold significant amounts of moisture safely, this can create a more durable space. We have over the last decades been trying to create impermeable surfaces in bathrooms and adding mechanical solutions. Instead, if we add hygroscopic materials that can safely manage the moisture generated, we reduce the need for mechanical solutions. 

I will be adding clay plaster to my two bathrooms in the very near future as detail walls to help with this exact situation. I am in Ontario but have family members who have discovered the magic of long showers…. This in combination with a balanced HRV exhaust in each bathroom will maintain humidity in the air and reduce potential concerns with damage.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Stephen

Stephen Collette 
BBEC, BBNC, LEED AP, CAHP, BSSO
Principal
Your Healthy House 
Indoor Environmental Testing & Building Consulting
http://www.yourhealthyhouse.ca <http://www.yourhealthyhouse.ca/>
stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca <mailto:stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca>
705.652.5159





> On Dec 17, 2017, at 2:00 PM, greenbuilding-request at lists.bioenergylists.org wrote:
> 
> * of course I don't know how much it would actually run as I've not tried
> it in the living space and don't know its duty cycle, but my hope is that
> there might be a (passive?) way to accomplish some of these goals without a
> compressor running a lot of the time....

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