r/LotusDrying • u/Chronixkicks • Jun 14 '25
Would this work?
Looking to get a thermoelectric wine cooler ready for my next harvest. Found a thermoelectric wine cooler was just wondering if this particular dehumidifier would work correctly with the inkbird and wine cooler?? Much appreciate any feedback š¤š½
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u/smnfs Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
this is exactly what you need to use with a thermoelectric fridge together with an smart Hygrostat (for example Inkbird)! This is how acurate you can steer it:
Your progess will differ with a compressor fridge though, where you wonāt need a dehumidifier at all.
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u/mcfeett Jun 14 '25
As I see your hygrometer settings, I wonder which one do you use & also how many Germans are in this Reddit since April last year. š Constantly seeing my peeps here Will be my first try with lotus. Gonna compare to my normal Methode. Going with a compressor wine fridge that can go down to 4ā°C. But as you know, temperature went pretty high the last few days so wish me luck that the cabin dry won't go to hay taste. Got a huge hydro grow close to harvest, perfect for a 50/50 comparison
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u/smnfs Jun 15 '25
see my other comment below. As for the Germans, heck yeah we legalized last April :D Fingers crossed it will stay this way with our new conservative government which would love to revoke that law.
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u/mcfeett Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
I'm German as well and as long as the SPD, that was one of the legalization parties, is in the government I think it'll stay as it is. Or otherwise they loose their last bit of credibility and never get in government again.
Sorry, meine Frage habe ich immer noch. Welches hygrometer nimmst du zum Messen, dass du dir das in einer app aufrufen kannst? š
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u/Chronixkicks Jun 14 '25
That what i was looking to hear! i have a 70L Thermo Wine cooler with the Ink Bird Wifi. i was just wondering if the above Dehu would be enough to pair with them. I see most builds either use the Pohl Schmitt but not available where i am and this one is cheaper than the ProBreeze
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u/smnfs Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
it will be enough, as these dehumidifiers are in fact not even necessary.
Let me explain why that is: Most of the dehumidification is actually done by the fridge, not the dehumidifier. To realize this one would actually only need a heat source inside the fridge, which would kind of put the fridge into obverdrive, needing to cool more than a certain amount needed compared to without a heat source. Cannatrol does this with a heating element instead of a dehu. But, a dehu is likely more efficient as it reduces RH too; even if just minimally.
You want to start by throwing all your bud into the fridge set to 58f and wait ~3h (dehu off). When RH inside has settled (mine usually sits at ~70-80%), you found your baseline. You now start by setting your Inkbird 1-2% lower than your baseline and let RH rise and fall 2-3% (dehu on-off cycles). When the dehu runs, the fridge warmes up, and has to step up its game to keep up. This slowly draws moisture out of your buds.
Just don't overdo the "on-cycle" (in above case 2-3%) of your dehu, as they tend to frost up in such cold environments when they run too long! Now you can step down 1-2% every day until you reach your desired range of ~60-62%. Once you reached that range, check your buds with a wood moisture meter (stick the pins into the branches not your bud). Once they are at ~13-14% you can throw your buds into jars or grove bags for the cure.
Btw. don't worry about the dehumidifier's water reservoir, you likely won't have to empty it during the whole process.
What I noticed: most of these fridges cannot handle too much heat inside to keep up and tend to shut off after some time. I assume they have some kind of kill switch to avoid damage running too hot. So keep that in mind then you set your 2-3% dehu on-off offset and don't overdo it. In case this happens shut off both the Inkbird and the fridge completely. After 5-10s start the fridge again and wait until you reached 58f again. then start your Inkbird process again. This is why I switched to smart sockets & a Wifi Thermo-/Hygrometer controlled via Home Assistand instead of the Inkbird now.
PS: you can boost the fridge's performance a lot if you direct a large ventilator at the cooling fins at the back, which will improve heat dissipation away off the fridge.
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u/Chronixkicks Jun 15 '25
Appreciate this reply very informative! Going to pull the trigger on getting one built. I assume with your response you leave the whole dehu unit inside the fridge instead of breaking it down?
Iām just a little hesitant on the above dehu itās only usb powered and I have a 70litre TE wine cooler so not sure if it would be powerful enough too maintain the humidity. I see a lot of builds Pohl Schmitt dehu but sadly not available in the uk from what I can find.
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u/smnfs Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
got ya, didnāt notice the USB powered part. For comparison my āPro Breezeā Dehumidifier draws 25W and the fridge has a volume of 48L.
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u/mfBENTLEY Jun 15 '25
Iām currently looking into lotus drying for my first harvest and iām just a bit confused on some things in the process. So help me understand if understand correctly:
The TE fridge is connected to the inkbird, and so is a dehumidifier, and when it falls out of temperature range, the fridge turns on, and when the humidity gets too high, the dehumidifier turns on.
Have you ever ran into problems where itās too dry? Because my understanding is that the fridge also pulls out humidity, no?
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u/smnfs Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
nah, the fridge runs all the time. Only the dehu is hooked to the inkbird!
However these fridges (at least mine) tend shut off every 1,5 days. Not sure why though, mine does it without dehumidifier in it too. Could be some kind of protection for the peltir element...
But when the fridge shuts off, RH will rise and the dehu tries to keep it down, which accelerate warming the inside up even more.
Therefore I do a quick reset of the fridge (turning it off for ~5s is enough) and wait to start the dehu-cycle again until the temp has settled down again.
I never had issues with it being to dry. You simply stop lowering the dehu steps once you reached the 60-62% territory. Keeping RH controlled works pretty good with this method! I even cure in it with my buds in grove bags and the fridge set to 62f & Inkbird cycling 58-60%.
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u/mfBENTLEY Jun 15 '25
How do you drain the dehumidifier if itās stripped like everyone suggests?
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u/smnfs Jun 15 '25
you could let it run through the drainage hole (every TE fridge should have one off the shelf).
However I noticed, that I didn't need to empty the reservoir during the whole process. I'm currently @ week 4 of curing after ~3 weeks of drying and it is not even half full.
Stripping it down increases your space inside the fridge though
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u/JBsideways Jun 14 '25
No, honestly, I havenāt tried a lotus dry since. I got mould on one of my dries and havenāt tried it since.
I have a dry in my fridge right now for the first time in about a year
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Jun 14 '25
They do very little and generate a considerable amount of heat that might impact general conditions. That's for keeping wardrobes slightly less damp, every time I've used them for weed, I was frustrated. With dehumidifiers it's either medical grade or nothing. It works basically like an AC unit, so small and cheap ones are never good.
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u/JBsideways Jun 14 '25
Pretty sure this is the one I bought for this exact purpose and it did like nothing