but would that work the same as if you had hot air and cold water...
No it wouldn't.
It’s been a long time since I studied, but this is my understanding of the process:
Evaporation is the endothermic process of water becoming a gas. Because it is Endothermic (takes in energy- which is why aftershave feels cold and why we sweat), warm water evaporates more easily (it has more energy). It is caused by individual water molecules containing gaining enough energy to change state from liquid to gas.
The temperature of the surrounding air is irrelevant I believe (does water evaporate more slowly in the Sahara?), with the following proviso: Air can hold a certain amount of water vapour, and when it reaches that maximum point the humidity is said to be 100% and no more water will evaporate without precipitation occurring elsewhere within the system. The hotter air is, the more water it can hold as vapour.
Precipitation is the reverse, caused when water turns back from a gas to a liquid. This is caused when air cools and it’s threshold for containing gaseous water is reduced to below the amount of water it conatians- it’s Dew Point.
Condensation is the term used when water precipitates directly onto a surface. This is caused when warm air meets a cold surface, quickly reducing the energy content of the gaseous water (single glazing windows, specs when you open the oven). That’s why you don’t get condensation on the outside of a fish tank (but you would if the tank was cooler than the surrounding air, as will no doubt be perfectly illustrated by the pint of beer need after writing this)!
Ps. 14 hours of lights on might cause you an algae problem.
