Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just finished my tortoise shed that I plan to use for the winter months. I attached it to my green house with a removeable door so they can travel throgh on nice days... I built this shed 8 x 12 with the intesion of super insulating it so I could heat it with a candle (figure of speech). it is very tight. I dug the ground out 2 feet ( by hand, blisters and all) laid foam insulation down. put cement blocks for a foundation, filled it back in, then bulit a low ceiling building on top.. insulated the crap out of it with fiberglass and foam. it heats very easily... I have 2 heat sources ( more if needed) 1 is a 250 watt mercury vapor bulb during the day and a 250 watt ceramic heat emitter during the night. so only one of those is running at a time. and I also have another 250 watt emitter that runs as needed . all are on thermostats. the room will stay in the low 80's inside with the temp in the 30's outside.. prety good and easy.
the problem I am having is that because the room is so tight any water I use on plants in the shed or that is in the dirt cannot evaporate. the humidity is a bit high and i have started to see signs of mold around where the door seals,(weather stripping) do I need to ventilate the building and if so how.. if I circulate air from outside it will be very cold air. I was wondering if a dehumidifier would help. not realy sure how they work our climate is not humid in the northeast. any suggestions would be helpfull.. the main thing I am concerned about is of course the health of my pets but also the efficiency of the shed. I don't want to waste money heating the outside.. thanks for any input I will post some pics of the inside now that i have planted some grass in it..

Hi. Yes, a dehumidifier will pull the water out of the air nicely. There is a device on them called a humidistat (like a thermostat) which you can set to maintain the humidity of the room at an acceptable level. The dehumidifier will cycle on and off as needed throughout the day and night. They have tanks or reservoirs to store the accumulated water which must be emptied periodically or the dehumidifier will turn off automatically and stop working. You probably will need to do this once per day or more, depending how much moisture your room actually contains or produces. If there is a drain line in your room or greenhouse, you can bypass the tank and run a line from the dehumidifier directly into a waste line or drain. In this way, it will not shut off due to a full tank, and will maintain the humidity you desire with much less work on your part.

thanks for the info. It sounds like that would work well in this instance. I will have to look for one asap