Solar Air Heating and Dehumidification
Q: How does SolarVenti dehumidify?
Warm dry air absorbs much more moisture than cold air. After a cold night all of the atmospheric moisture is lying on the ground as dew or frost leaving a very dry but cold atmosphere. SolarVenti takes in this cold dry air and warms it before pumping it into your house where it sucks out moisture from the fabric of your property and replaces the colder damper atmosphere.
Q: Could I use SolarVenti as the sole form of heating in my property?
No. SolarVenti is designed as a dehumidifier. The fact that the larger units do indeed produce a significant increase in the temperature of the incoming air does not mean that you could use them as a stand alone space heating solution, at least not in the vast majority of conventional buildings. Since sunshine is not constant, you may need another source of warmth during evenings and overcast periods. That said, you can obtain significant energy savings for your space heating if you supplement it with one of the larger SolarVenti units.
Q: How does a SolarVenti actually work?
SolarVenti dehumidifiers are designed to make use of the significant relative humidity differences that occur during non summer months. On a cold clear winter morning, most of the water vapour in the air has dropped out as dew or frost, so the relative humidity is low. As soon as the sun hits the SolarVenti panel, it will start to suck in cool air, warm it and push it into your property. This incoming air positively displaces the existing damp air. Because the incoming warmer air has a greater propensity for carrying moisture, this picks up the dampness in your property and it is actively dispersed through any ventilation gaps in your house (air bricks, poorly fitted windows, under doors etc.) leaving your property nicely dry and ventilated with fresh, warmed air.
Q: Is SolarVenti a better solution than a conventional dehumidifier?
Small conventional dehumidifiers work by blowing the stale damp air in the room past the equivalent of an ice cube. Larger ones have larger cooling coils equivalent to a couple of ice cubes and above this they may have the equivalent of a tray or more of ice. Regardless of this only the air that comes into contact with the cooled surface inside the dehumidifier has the moisture condensed out. It takes many many passes of that same air to get it dry. When the sun shines SolarVenti units pump in large volumes of warmed dry air displacing the stale moist air. Even the smallest SolarVenti is much more effective.
Q: What is the optimal position for the system?
The system should face as close to due south as possible and have as little shade, from trees or other buildings, as possible.