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dehumidifiers


rangie

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You do not say if you can connect to mains or not. Raising the temperature even slightly with a low output oil filled thermostatically controlled tube heater or similar with a moisture absorber for each separate compartment from any of the DIY outlets is I think the cheapest solution. The crystals usually last for 6 weeks and are easily replaced. These can be used even if no heat is available.

 

Roy Fuller

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Hello,

Assuming your campervan has no leaks, GOOD VENTILATION is usually the best way to prevent damp. Leave as many vents open as you can, including heater vents, provided rainwater cannot enter.

If you can take out any seat cushions and store them in a dry place that will help. Leaving all lockers open so that air can circulate freely is also very important.

If after taking the above precautions your campervan feels damp inside, then I would invest in some kind of dehumidifier.

 

BarnacleBob

 

 

 

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If you do want a dehumidifier, I'd suggest getting a good second hand one - local newspaper ads or car boot sales.

 

We've picked up several at car boot sales (for friends as well as us) - our latest, a good quality digital one, cost the previous 'owners' over £100 less than a year ago - we got it for £20. :-D Expect to pay between £15-£20 for a very good one, depending on whether it's new or not, and whether it's a 'basic' model or a super duper one.

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  • 3 weeks later...
You will need an absorption type of dehumidifier as conventional ones will not work at the low temperatures to be found in your motorhome during the winter. These used to be industrial units only but happily they are now available at domestic type size and price. I have a feeling B & Q or Homebase sell them if not look on line. To save electricity I have ours on a timer from 12 to 15hrs when the temperature is likely to be highest as even absorption types work best when it is warmest. You will be surprised how much water they extract.
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You're right Colin, they extract gallons of water (which is very useful for topping up batteries) - but think about the amount of air/water vapour which is being drawn in via the fridge vents and gas drops. I suspect that moisture removed by the dehumidifier is very rapidly replaced. Regular use is probably the only answer.
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We just use a dehumidifier for a few hours on returning home. Generally on its 8 hour timer setting. Prolonged use I don't think serves much purpose once the excess is removed.

 

The rational behind this is to strip the inevitable excess moisture from habitation out of primarily the fabrics, cushions, carpets and mattresses.

 

Then its reliance on reasonable levels of ventilation to keep everything sweet.

 

Prior to this we did suffer mildew on the walls behind some window curtains where I suspect the internal wooden framing had caused a "cold short" and lead to surface condensation in this poorly ventilated location.

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A slip of the keyboard. We have been caravanning from 1977 to 2001, NOT 1997.

 

The point of my post being that we have never felt the need for any sort of dehumidifier whilst the 'van is not being used.

 

If the 'van is damp, there must be a leak of some sort or the other. Having said that, our 'van faces south when at home and so I supose it does get the warmth of the sun to help it along and maybe this is why we have never had a problem.

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spospe - 2010-12-01 4:58 PM

 

If the 'van is damp, there must be a leak of some sort or the other.

 

I have to take issue with that statement as its not always true.

There are sources for damp being in a van other that leaks be those leaks from the outside or from some water system in the van.

 

There is personal perspiration, personal ablution plus cooking be it heating water, the combustion of the gas and then washing up or even bringing wet towels or wet clothing into the van.

 

Throughout the bulk of the year the vans ventilation copes with this but given a spell of inclement weather close to freezing then it does not. Assuming you dont have the windows on catch 24/7. Should you return from a trip out in that, where the weather remains depressively damp then a few hours of the dehumidifier is very beneficial to get the vans humidity down and flash of the excess moisture lingering in drapes and on the parts not too well insulated, like window rubbers, door frames etc.

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you are dead right ocsid, put a wet dog in a car and see how quick the windows fog up, there are so many sources of moisture that realy a dehumidifier is the only real answer,those that dont aggree with them then use one for a day when its warm and then see. I learnt from others.
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Damp is inherent with winter, the trick is not to warm up the m/home too quickly and get condensation forming.

 

If you can pre-warm and ventilate before going out in it, it is probably as good as running a dehumidifier because humidity will return as soon as it is switched off.

 

Rgds

 

 

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You will always get some condensation in a motorhome, it has nothing to do with a leak normally, but how much has a lot to do with how well/often you ventilate your motorhome.

 

We found with our previous van (Rimor) when we hadn't used it for quite a while and stayed in it overnight, that in the morning the walls were literally streaming, no leak, just pure condensation which had built up gradually over the previous couple of months because we hadn't used it and then, because we had slept in it - us and 2 dogs - this added additional humidity which caused the excess condensation. We knew what it was fortunately and it was easily cured by airing the van more regularly.

 

A dehumidifier would have helped at the time but it is much better to give the van a proper airing/run out, rather than rely on a dehumidifier to do it, unless of course you cannot get the van out easily or the weather is not clement (as is the situation now with the snow etc).

 

 

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  • 4 years later...

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums.

 

If you GOOGLE-search using “dehumidifier cleaning” (omitting the quotes) as the search-term you’ll find plenty of advice on how to do this.

 

A couple of examples are here

 

http://www.air-n-water.com/how-to-clean-dehumidifier.htm

 

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090717064304AAE95Y9

 

How easy cleaning will be is going to depend, to some extent, on which dehumidifier you have and there may well be instructions in its user-manual that will guide you. On-line advice suggests that dehumidifiers benefit from cleaning to maintain their efficiency and, consequently, are designed to be cleaned by the user. Logically, then, you should not have much difficulty cleaning yours.

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  • 1 year later...

I am very impressed with how well this Guirn dehumidifier works as it is so compact and quiet. I bought it for my bathroom as the fan no longer works, I just got the bathroom repainted and I don't need condensation everywhere. I wanted something that wouldn't take up much room. This collects about one quarter to a third of a cup of water per day. I'm very impressed with this little machine.

http://www.amazon.com/Gurin-Ceramic-Tourmaline-Straightener-Carrying/dp/B00ANW4LLY?keywords=Hair+Straightener

 

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My plan was to strip as much water from the van as possible. To do this, I hooked up to the mains, stuck in a fan heater, and well warmed the van, on a cold day,, the air carries very little moisture on a cold day, so once the air inside was hot, I simply ventilated the van,. Hot damp air out cold dry air in,

Seems to have been a success, as when I went back to move it a week or so later, there was no sign of misting, in what would otherwise have been a misting kind of day.

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After many years of keeping boats and now motorhome as well, providing you have power available, the best combination I have found is an oil filled radiator on the frost setting or just above and, a desiccant type de humidifier with a humidistat for example:

http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/meaco_8l_desiccant_dehumidifier_electronic_control_dd8ljunior/version.asp.

 

This combination will keep the moisture level at about 45-50% which is the correct level for comfort, and will cost little to keep running.

 

Condenser type de humidifiers are cheaper to buy but, are much heavier and imho not as efficient.

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  • 6 months later...

I'm one of the keep it ventilated all the time, and put an oil filled radiator on the frost setting for the very coldest weather types.

I have used dehumidifiers in a commercial application and our experience was that to be effective the space needs to be almost hermetically sealed. Nature abhors anything different. so if you remove all the moisture from inside you box, nature will find every hole, crack and ventilator to put some moisture back in.

You would be amazed at how much moisture there is in the atmosphere, and for every litre you take out, nature will put another litre back in, it makes painting the Forth Bridge seem like a casual activity.

Open all the lockers, stand all the cushions up to get the maximum amount of air round them, and if you can open the doors and windows for an hour or two when it's nice, you should be ok.

AGD

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You can reduce the humidity levels by running a dehumidifier but you need some ventilation too - and you need to keep the temperature above 5 degrees in the MH to allow normal domestic dehumidifiers to avoid frosting up.   MHs have so many ventilation holes in them that you couldn't seal them up even if you tried so using energy to heat and dehumidify is bound to use quite a bit of energy.  Using heat also encourages vermin to come and make their home inside so you also need to set vermin traps.

 

The alternative, as some have encouraged, is just to make sure there is airflow around the inside, including through the lockers by leaving them open and behind the cushions by tipping them up.  I would still set vermin traps and check them regularly.

 

At least you don't need vermin traps everywhere, if they are properly baited the little bastards will seek them out.  Chocolate-covered raisins are better than cheese.

 

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The Maeco DD8L dehumidifers are superb and work in freezing temperatures that render a compressor dehumidifier useless and they also output warm air as a by-product.

The DD8L 'Junior' model is sufficient; it lacks only the ioniser and anti-bacterial filter of its non-junior brother, otherwise it is identical.

 

That said, and as aluded to earlier in the thread, the problem with using one to keep a stored motorhome dry is that there are simply too many vent holes (gas drops, Heiki rooflights etc. etc.) and you are trying, effectively, to dehumidy the world. This is the reason why people tend to be so impressed with how much water they have extracted.

 

I use a DD8L-J in the boat which winters in the wettest part of the UK and it maintains 45% humidty easily with very little running on its lowest fan and extraction settings. However, I studiously seal the boat first and very little water is ever collected.

 

Dehumidifiers and ventilation simply do not go together.

 

 

 

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We started Caravanning 43 years ago and progressed to Motorhomes, we have never had a problem with damp in any of them when not in use during the winter, albeit that we used them most months of the year. Never even removed the cushions etc.

 

There is enough vents in a modern motorhome to let air through. If you use a dehumidifier most of the moisture collected will be through the coming in through the vents from outside so surely there is no point in using one.

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