OK, folks. I got the Aircraft Spruce catalog, and it is neat. But in
regard to the Goldenrod Dehumidifiers--does anyone know how these things
work (or if they *do* work)? It says, "This compact, low voltage
dehumidifier is an ideal way to eliminate dampness....If installed...will
eliminate moisture which leads to rust...Operates on standard 110V
current...but uses four times less power than a standard light bulb." (I
assume it means 1/4 the power of a standard light bulb, since four times
less is three times less than nothing.)
Be that as it may, 110V does not sound like low voltage to me. Is it just
a low wattage heater??? And if that is all it is, how can it use less
power than a light bulb--a watt's a watt, after all and ninety something %
of the power used by a light bulb ends up as heat. A 15 watt goldenrod
thingie and a 15 watt light bulb should use the same current and give off
the same heat, within a percent or two, or else I slept through a critical
physics lecture.
If this gidget is supposed to work by warming the air so the relative
humidity goes down, it might have some effect in a small, tight,
well-insulated box, but it isn't going to do much for Kermit as he sits
under an uninsulated sheet in an unheated garage. I may as well save my
$35 for later rust repair. Or I may as well put a 15W bulb in an aluminum
box inside Kermit--it won't do anything either, but it won't hurt and it
won't cost $35. How about it, is this a scam?
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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