Pool room dehumidifiers

Dehumidifier Corporation of America (DCA) is an industry-leading provider of indoor swimming pool room dehumidifiers, specializing in hydrotherapy rooms, endless pools, and exercise pools. Controlling humidity in these rooms is crucial, as excess moisture can lead to a variety of problems.

Compared to ordinary pools, endless and exercise pools often contain wave motion technology and/or water jets that can lead to extra moisture evaporation. Additionally, these pools are often situated in small-volume pool rooms that could experience issues when exposed to high moisture loads. These factors are important to consider when selecting and sizing the proper dehumidification system. At DCA, our pool room dehumidification systems feature reduced CFM with complete moisture removal capacity to accommodate unique pool room challenges.

Controlling Humidity

To prevent indoor pool room humidity issues, it is recommended to maintain a relative humidity of 50% to 60%. To properly control humidity in exercise and endless pool rooms, it is recommended to do the following:

• Maintain proper room temperatures. Indoor pool dehumidifiers should maintain the room air temperature at two degrees higher than the pool water temperature, as this limits the amount of water vapor entering the room’s atmosphere. 
• Perform the correct amount of air changes. For optimum circulation, you’ll need 4 to 6 air changes per hour in pool rooms with average amounts of window/door surface area and outside facing glass, whereas you may need 8 to 10 air changes in pool rooms with over 50% of wall/ceiling area or outside facing glass.
• Have proper ducting. While the pool room dehumidifier itself is important, it’s only half the equation. The other half is having a duct system that controls condensation by distributing the dehumidified air over all outside facing glass surfaces. 
• Include a room vapor barrier. An integral vapor barrier, normally visqueen plastic or equal, must be applied to the warm side of the walls and ceilings directly under the wall treatments, such as wood, green board, or other. All overlapping joints and penetrations, such as electrical wall outlets, light switches, windows, and doors must be taped to provide a non-permeable vapor barrier cell.  
• Operate under a negative pressure vacuum. If your pool room is open to the public, you should operate under a negative pressure vacuum. This means that when a door is opened, air will move into the room rather than allowing wet air to escape. This can typically be achieved by adding a room exhaust fan. 

Consequences

By not controlling moisture build-up in your exercise and endless pool rooms, you’ll eventually encounter issues with corrosion formation, rusting, mold, and mildew. When pool water warms to swimming temperatures, excess moisture laden with bromine and chlorine disinfectants releases into the indoor pool room, attacking everything it comes in contact with. This can lead to problems such as:

• Deterioration of the surrounding building
• Health concerns related to mildew, mold, and other air quality issues
• A burning eye sensation for swimmers, leading to an uncomfortable swimming environment

Factors that contribute to indoor pool room humidity issues include:

• Inadequate ducting for your dehumidification system that doesn’t properly circulate dehumidified air throughout the pool room
• Lack of a dedicated dehumidification system for your exercise or endless pool room
• Improperly functioning or inadequate ventilation system
• Improper building construction, such as a lack of a room vapor barrier or low-quality glass doors and windows

Swimming Pool Room Dehumidification Systems from DCA

Exercise and endless pool rooms pose various unique dehumidification challenges not seen in ordinary pool room installations. If these challenges are not addressed from the very beginning, it could lead to catastrophic and costly consequences. At DCA, our sales engineers are here to help you solve these problems and deliver the properly sized DCA dehumidification system for your indoor pool room project. 

For more information about our dehumidification systems, or for help finding the best solution for your exercise or endless pool room, contact us today or request a quote.

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Pool Room Dehumidification Basics

To properly manage an ideal indoor pool space, structured dehumidification standards are essential to follow. One of the most important standards is to maintain pool room air temperature 2 to 4 degrees warmer than that of the pool water temperature.  This relationship allows minimal pool water evaporation into the air of the pool room. Having the pool room air temperature cooler than the water temperature encourages pool water evaporation into the air causing dehumidification systems to run longer than needed.

It may seem practical to alter a system’s dehumidifier set points during daily pool use, but this can be highly disruptive and not recommended.  Normally pool water temperature set points are constant and by extension the room air temperature will be constant as well.   Below are three common situations illustrating this.

• In an attempt to save on energy and operating costs, some pool managers will cover a pool and then lower the room temperature during the time the pool is closed. This practice is not recommended but can be done if needed. Before the pool cover is retracted the room air temperature must be brought up to 2 – 4 degrees warmer than the pool water temperature or an instant fog will be released, covering the windows of the room with condensation.

• When large groups of people gather in the pool room for a party or an event, the room temperature rises naturally and the guests may find the room air temperature uncomfortable. If the dehumidifier set point is dropped to accommodate the guests, the dehumidification system may not be able to keep up with the rising room air temperature and moisture output from the imbalance.

• Pool managers looking for a way to accommodate a diverse swimming audience may want to quickly heat up or cool down the pool water by adjusting the temperature of the thermostat or the water heating source. However, this can quickly double the room’s moisture load, making it impossible for even an oversized dehumidifier to keep up.

Pool Room Dehumidifier Management Solutions from DCA

While adjusting a pool room’s dehumidifier’s controls set points may seem like a quick, practical way to save money, it can ultimately ruin a pool room. At DCA, our expert engineers create custom pool room dehumidification systems to perfectly suit clients’ unique applications. We provide fully automatic dehumidification systems, allowing for stress-free, reliable humidity management control.

One of DCA’s newer control systems, Honeywell Prestige, allows for remote viewing & adjustment of pool room temperature along with the relative humidity set point. This versatile solution also features a color touchscreen for optimal ease of use. Our team provides all initial setup services.

To learn more about the Honeywell Prestige or discuss how our dehumidification systems can help with your specific pool room application, reach out to the team today.

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