I am looking to control the humidity inside my RV that I park at my house. I bought a fairly simple dehumidifier that has a single toggle on/off switch. I figured that this could allow me to use my Hubitat system to intelligently control the humidity. I'm looking at getting the Aeotect aërQ Temperature & Humidity Sensor, which to my understanding measures temperature, humidity, and internally calculates dew point based on the first two parameters.
I read on the information on the dehumidifier that the machine only works with a temperature greater than 59F. I am therefore trying to figure out how to write rules that will best control the dehumidifier so that it turns on when needed and turns off when needed. Considering no one typically lives in the RV, I would rather not artificially heat it to reduce the humidity unless it was critical. I'm wondering if knowing the outside temperature/humidity/dew point is necessary in automating the dehumidifier. I would think that the outdoor temperature can make things like the windows and walls of the trailer be colder than the air temperature, therefore it will cause condensation to occur unless it was too dry for that to occur. If that is a valid point, I may need to have some type of push notification to let me know I should turn the heat on a bit so I can dehumidify.
The bottom line is I don't want mold to grow and I don't want the musty smell when we go out to camp in April.
I use a Zooz 4 in 1 sensor to control a dehumidifier. The sensor turns on and off a Zooz Zen15 power switch. Your RV dehumidifier's power requirement may allow it to be controlled by a typical smart plug. I have it cycle over a 2% range. 45 and 47 %. It has been reliable for over a year. I didn't read far enough. You may want to consider a different dehumidifier that is capable of operating at a lower temp. This is good to 41 deg. The 4,500 sq ft version is what I control. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073V9MG3Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Are you new to the RV world? The reason I ask is that typically, unless you have a leak in your camper, the RV shouldn't grow mold or mildew. Ours is 15 years old, no leaks, and doesn't have any mold or mildew in it. What I do is plug in my dehumidifier about 2 days prior to leaving on an adventure and letting it work its magic. We also try to go out at least 2 times a month for about 9-10 months a year.
One thing to take into consideration is this...by design a dehumidifier will take the air inside the RV and super cool it down. Then it will reheat that air back up. Your humidifier could put out air around 80-90 degrees (depending on the model). I guess what I'm getting at is that without running the AC in your RV, just running the dehumidifier could cause the RV to get extremely hot if you live in a warm and humid climate. I ran ours in our camper for 24 hours in the early spring and it got the inside of the camper 85 degrees. I typically have to run the AC and dehumidifier both in the spring, summer, and early fall. This combination works extremely well as both the AC and dehumidifier will ring moisture out of the air.
Another thing to keep in mind is how are you going to empty the dehumidifier? If you are going to be able to turn the dehumidifier on and off are you making any considerations for knowing when the dehumidifier is full? If you turn it on and it's stopped because it is full, are you going to monitor energy usage to determine when it's not running then run out there and empty it? I've seen floats get stuck on a dehumidifier before and cause a small flood. If your automating it, I would make sure to put a moisture sensor around it as well.
