Dehumidification - the silver bullet to energy costs?

摘要

Every cold-climate greenhouse grower experiences it - it's cold outside, the heat is on, but the relative humidity levels need to come down to prevent disease. The solution? The vents get opened to get rid of that moist air and exchange it for drier air - except the greenhouse loses heat in the process!Greenhouse growers are facing increased energy costs and are concerned about fossil fuel emissions, so they're looking for alternative/green heat sources or ways to decrease their energy consumption. Energy curtains have been widely adopted by greenhousegrowers to decrease energy consumption, but curtains cannot be closed when humidity levels rise, therefore limiting their value. Heat recovery dehumidification technology represents a new approach for removing humidity without the resulting waste of energy associated with venting. Using this technology means a significant break from traditional growing practices, and very few greenhouses have invested in this equipment to trial at their farms.However, heat recovery dehumidification technology companies advertise significant energy savings for greenhouse operations - up to a 60 to 70 per cent decrease in fuel consumption!