# Solar dehumidifier



## Sue1

Hi,
We have a holiday home near Caldas da Rainha & when it is shut up in winter the humidity or damp can get quite high even with the windows vented & the blinds stretched. It is also musty. I looked at a dehumidifier but they only work until the container/reservoir is full & use mains power. 
We have been looking at the Solar-venti as these run without power & seem a much better idea. The only problem is that to fit it needs a large hole cutting through the wall to fit it & it can only go on the back of our very small wall on the terrace. As we would need an SV9 probaly, it may dominate the wall a bit.
I think if it works we do not mind these things but we would be very disappointed if we went to all that trouble & then it didn't work. The theory looks great but there are not many installers in Portugal. I can buy one in the uK and ship it out to Portugal but then need to get a relaible builder to fit it.
Does anyone have any experience of these for homes at all. SolarVenti - Solar Air Heating Dehumidifiers, Ventilation & Water Heating all advice welcome.


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## PETERFC

*Reply*



Sue1 said:


> Hi,
> We have a holiday home near Caldas da Rainha & when it is shut up in winter the humidity or damp can get quite high even with the windows vented & the blinds stretched. It is also musty. I looked at a dehumidifier but they only work until the container/reservoir is full & use mains power.
> We have been looking at the Solar-venti as these run without power & seem a much better idea. The only problem is that to fit it needs a large hole cutting through the wall to fit it & it can only go on the back of our very small wall on the terrace. As we would need an SV9 probaly, it may dominate the wall a bit.
> I think if it works we do not mind these things but we would be very disappointed if we went to all that trouble & then it didn't work. The theory looks great but there are not many installers in Portugal. I can buy one in the uK and ship it out to Portugal but then need to get a relaible builder to fit it.
> Does anyone have any experience of these for homes at all. SolarVenti - Solar Air Heating Dehumidifiers, Ventilation & Water Heating all advice welcome.


HI Sue

Solarventi seem to have a great product and it's one i have been watching for a while as i plan my move to Portugal. I would ask them for names and address's of customers who have them fitted. Also as they are not that far from Cheshire why not arrange a visit and see the system in operation. 

If you do get the help and advise you want please share it with the Forum.

Good luck

Peter


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## miradouro

I have a Solarventi SV7 on the side of my farmhouse (ventilating the ground floor), and have just ordered another to place alongside it (to ventilate the first floor). So I'm happy with the results, although the cost/return on investment is not great (584 euros+VAT per unit). 

Bought from Erik Kristensen: Dealers & Fitters World Wide at www.solarventi.dk

The downside of course is that you need to put in a big vent shaft in the wall (or two shafts -- it makes sense to split vents evenly around the house). 

Another thing we noticed is that you really need to get the panel very high up on a south facing wall to ensure it has as much direct sunlight as possible: the fan is pretty sensitive to e.g. part-shadows from olive trees (you can always simply connect the fan to mains though). 
Putting the panel high up on a wall, means needing to build a longer shaft -- so bear in mind you'll need to factor in labour costs for this. 
--------
The upside is that there's a fiscal rebate incentive (if you pay income tax in Portugal): Erik will tell you about this.


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## Sue1

miradouro said:


> I have a Solarventi SV7 on the side of my farmhouse (ventilating the ground floor), and have just ordered another to place alongside it (to ventilate the first floor). So I'm happy with the results, although the cost/return on investment is not great (584 euros+VAT per unit).
> 
> Bought from Erik Kristensen: Dealers & Fitters World Wide at www.solarventi.dk
> 
> The downside of course is that you need to put in a big vent shaft in the wall (or two shafts -- it makes sense to split vents evenly around the house).
> 
> Another thing we noticed is that you really need to get the panel very high up on a south facing wall to ensure it has as much direct sunlight as possible: the fan is pretty sensitive to e.g. part-shadows from olive trees (you can always simply connect the fan to mains though).
> Putting the panel high up on a wall, means needing to build a longer shaft -- so bear in mind you'll need to factor in labour costs for this.
> --------
> The upside is that there's a fiscal rebate incentive (if you pay income tax in Portugal): Erik will tell you about this.


Thanks for the extensive information. Our house is quite small (55m footprint) but 3 floors. The lower one is garage space & is locked off from the rest most of the time. I had thought to put one SV9 in on the first floor, small south facing wall on our terrace/balcony at mid wall height & leave the internal doors open & the upstairs windows vented so that the warm air is drawn in downstairs & rises up, circulating through to freshen & dry the atmosphere.
As you say, the downside is the large hole which I don't mind (with the cover plate) if it makes a difference. Last winter, which was a bad one, we got quite a bit of condensation or damp & some mould.
I looked at three Portuguese fitters but one is too far away & the others, their websites didn't fill me with confidence. If I don't find someone over there, I may have to buy one here & ship it out. I could then get a builder to fit it.
Can you tell me, does the shaft line up with the centre of the panel or the bottom?


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## miradouro

For a 55m2 footprint over two floors, I'm not sure if one bigger SolarVenti (SV9) would be enough (ask advice from the dealer). Much depends on the amount of airflow/ventilation you have between floors, and of course the floor-to-ceiling height. 

We've gone for two as, after experimenting with the first SV7 (the SV9 isn't much stronger), we found it did well within about 6-7 metres of the outlet, but didn't reach much beyond that. We're also planning to keep a lot of books (plus bed linen) on the first floor, so wanted a second wall-vent to deliver extra ventilation/warm air up there. 

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For the SV7 model, the fan (where the shaft connects) is in the middle, towards the bottom of the panel -- you should be able to get precise measurements from the SolarVenti salesman or a website. 

The panel links to a standard extensible aluminium flue (120mm I think).

Note that you'll also need a hole to place the wire to the controller box (this is a small wall-mounted aluminium case, that looks a bit like a domino box).


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