Radiant heaters

[goose1]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

[king]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

I've never used heaters. If it was a problem in my loft I'd rather change the ventilation and get the air flow right . Heaters don't actually reduce humidity, warmer air can just hold more moisture. This makes the air feel less damp, but it does not remove the moisture from the air. The total amount of water vapor in the air remains the same. You got to keep changing the air itself to reduce humidity, or use a Dehumidifiers which do remove water from the air.
I believe these heaters do bring on form but work better in a loft that's dry to start with.

[Anthony webster]

Iv never used heaters pal ,one thing I do think about tho is de humidifier my pal breeds British finches and as a big bird room built like a small bungalow he said since he's used a de humidifier in he's bird room no birds have gone sick and he's never had to use medicine on them either ,and they can go sick and fluff up in a heart beat so something that really catches my mind.
Here on fens we live below sea level so I'm 100 ft away from farmers dyke and its constantly damp here in winter but I think now the birds have adjusted to it just wish I had iv had 5 pneumonia since living in this area .

[Steve Howells]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

Yes I’ve got them. I put them in after noticing how their condition improves when the humidity drops low for a few days. I don’t use them in winter but in Summer set the hydrostatic to around 60%.

[Steve Howells]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

I've never used heaters. If it was a problem in my loft I'd rather change the ventilation and get the air flow right . Heaters don't actually reduce humidity, warmer air can just hold more moisture. This makes the air feel less damp, but it does not remove the moisture from the air. The total amount of water vapor in the air remains the same. You got to keep changing the air itself to reduce humidity, or use a Dehumidifiers which do remove water from the air.
I believe these heaters do bring on form but work better in a loft that's dry to start with.

Trouble is King if outside humidity is Say 95% then that’s what enters the Loft no amount of jigging the ventilation can change that. I have the radiant panels fitted if the outside humidity is say 90% and I set the hydrostat to 60% the panels come on and they do drive the humidity down, to 60% eventually.

[goose1]

Cheers for replies gents much appreciated.

[goose1]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

Are you likely to face the same humidity obstacles at the new location?

Hopefully not Mike. I spent a lot of time assessing conditions over here and comparing them to where the loft was on poor days. Even just standing in the garden it felt better if that makes sense. I've raised this loft well off the ground (my neighbours have been brilliant) there's no obstacles or barriers around the loft. And to be honest I am happy with it so far. But I do have a bit of an obsession with the environment within the loft It actually does keep me awake at night I'm basically thinking along the lines of what Steve has said if the humidity gets up to something like 90% (or anything above 70% to be honest) having the heaters to bring it down can only help. I'm not bothered about the temperature I'd much prefer the form to come for the longer races with the natural increase in temperature late May/June/July. But I'd really like to keep the humidity constant

[Bowbroom]

A local very successful lad went further, he had oil filled tubular radiators controlled by a thermostat and extract fans linked to a hydrostat, he was able to control the loft environment precisely as he wanted it, it worked for him, too much like hard work for me

[king]

What are you lads thoughts on them? As I've said I've moved me distance pigeons to my house now as at our old place we were in a constant battle against high humidity, our loft was low down behind high hedge rows that weren't ours to maintain, the rubbish weather we get up here means damp is a constant battle. Now I have easy access to electric I am thinking of installing them with the sole purpose of controlling the humidity, as in my opinion its one of the biggest obstacles to getting and keeping pigeons in top form. Be interested to hear you lads views

I've never used heaters. If it was a problem in my loft I'd rather change the ventilation and get the air flow right . Heaters don't actually reduce humidity, warmer air can just hold more moisture. This makes the air feel less damp, but it does not remove the moisture from the air. The total amount of water vapor in the air remains the same. You got to keep changing the air itself to reduce humidity, or use a Dehumidifiers which do remove water from the air.
I believe these heaters do bring on form but work better in a loft that's dry to start with.

Trouble is King if outside humidity is Say 95% then that’s what enters the Loft no amount of jigging the ventilation can change that. I have the radiant panels fitted if the outside humidity is say 90% and I set the hydrostat to 60% the panels come on and they do drive the humidity down, to 60% eventually.

To achieve this Steve do you have to stop fresh air coming into the loft? If so isn't creating another problem? My own loft has plenty of fresh air and only when it's raining very heavy and prolonged does the humidity get high, as soon as the rain stops the humidity drops very fast.

[king]

I've just taken a reading today in the loft as it's raining here in York. The humidity is 72% despite it raining the last couple of hours.