Indoor sauna causing humidity issues

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donl1150

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I have an oversized attached 2 car garage. It is heated via in-floor radiant and is fully insulated with sheet rock walls and ceiling. There are 2 small double hung windows and 2 insulated service doors. Last spring, I built a small sauna in the garage. It is built on a 12” raised platform to allow for floor drainage into the basement of the house. It has an electric heater and a shower inside.

This fall I have noticed the humidity in the garage is fairly high after I use the sauna. I just recently bought a temp/humidity monitor to see exactly where I am at. I keep the garage at 63 deg F and the humidity after a sauna is 75%. I know that is too high and am wondering the best way to address the problem. The house has a HRV system and I am thinking if I would tap into that somehow would be my best solution. Other alternative might be to use an exhaust fan in the upper portion of the double hung windows? Thoughts?
 

Dana

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In a MN climate exhaust ventilation either on a timer or under dehumidistat control) would probably be safer than risking ice damage on the HRV when the humidity is that high. The moisture content of 75% RH/63F air is more than 2x that of 30% RH/68F wintertime indoor air, and I would anticipate copious condensation & frost inside the HRV core.

Also, in many places it's a code violation to use the same ventilation system for both the house and a garage, due to the smoke/fire spread issues, as well as the airborne VOCs associated with gasoline.
 
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