>De-humifiers work on the principle of cooling heat exchange fins,
>blowing air through them to condense water from the humid air.  For
>every BTU of cool air out the front (or rear depending upon your model)
>there is an equal amount of hot air out the other end.
>the unit might not be making that much heat ... unless it is faulty
>(hmmm 3 years old? ... bet it is OK).
Whatever the case, it produces quite a bit of heat; enough that I only
dare use it when I see mildew growing on the walls down there. No
matter; the birds seem to like the humidity--the cherry-heads go to nest
when the humidity gets REALLY high! So I guess I probably wasted my
money on the de-humidifier, since I only use it a couple days per year.
Oh well, if I HADN'T gotten one, I'd need it daily; that seems to be the
story of my life. 
 KJ> Hmmmm, not ours. It's COLD down there in winter. My electric bills
 KJ> are awful, from running the electric oil-filled radiator to warm the
 KJ> bird room.
>Sheese, I'd find some other way of heating your bird room than using
>electric heat.  $$$$. Can't you duct upstairs heat ducts to them?
I *could* have ducts run into that room, as the furnace is only maybe 15
feet from their room. But it'd be a major pain. It would disrupt the
birds with construction, and cause me to have to put a much larger
humidifier in there in the winter to counter the drying effect of forced
air. And I know that despite any filters we could use, we WOULD get a
ton of dust upstairs. For now, I think I'll stick with the oil-filled
radiator.
>BTW, we have a 'Florida' type of sun room full of mostly tropical
>plants. Exposed on 3 sides on a concrete pad, attached to our home.  It
>is warm in the winter ... sometimes even warmer than the upstairs
>bedrooms ... when the sun is out.
Now I AM jealous; I want a room where I can put my plants. I HAD over 50
houseplants when we moved into this house. I'm down to less than 15 now;
the light just isn't right, and the windowsills are too small. The
plants didn't get enough light, and croaked, one by one. And it would be
nice to have a sunny room for the birds (and us) to enjoy in the winter.
Next house...(I've been saying that a LOT lately--I've got the bug to
move again).
>She has been spending the last 2 weeks in our living room ... also good
>for a change of habit for her as well as heat avoidance.
Good point! Often when a bird lives in the same room for too long, they
get "room bound", just as they become cage-bound if caged too long
without being released occasionally. I see some of that in my
cockatiels, who live downstairs. When I bring one upstairs for whatever
reason, they seem to panic for a while at being in a strange place. But
being cockatiels, they tend to settle down more quickly than a
parrot-type would.
--Kathy
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