Condensation......AGAIN!

[cdiggy]

I leave a 'sacrificial window' uninsulated during the winter. An amazing amount of water condenses on it throughout the day/night and flows outside via the seep holes. The dehumidifiers do essentially the same thing, but need to be powered to do so. The window trick has the advantage of being passive tho. ..Willy.

Brilliant!

 

[Willy]

I generally first adhere a layer of translucent Coroplast to the interior frame surround, covering the glass too, and, if I need a higher R-value, then add reflectix. The front windows on my camper have reflectix/coroplast/reflectix.. just cuz I had some extra kicking around.

While there often is a bit of condensate on the insulated windows, the lions' share condenses on the uninsulated window. This basically happens cuz I don't have my propane furnace installed yet and am using my stove burners. ..Willy.

 

[offroad]

Willy. - you are making us look like dummies in comparison. Lol. Keep up the great notes. But how do you dump humidity in the heat? That's what the air conditioner is for. But sometimes that's too much energy to burn keeping that running.

 

[Willy]

The places I go are generally pretty arid in the late spring/summer/fall, so no problems re heat & humidity. Can't stand it being hot & humid.. one or the other. ..Willy.

 

[offroad]

So the solution is drive away from that horrible weather. Also notice that right on the ocean beach it seems to always be slightly more arid or humid. Not sure of that is the salt air pulling moisture from everything or ocean pushing some humidity back.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

@Willy... where do you locate these "seep holes"?

I am very intrigued by this as I also live in the PNW with very high humidity levels.

I'd love to see a pic of how you do this!

 

[Willy]

Right now I'm in a 9.5' slide-in truck camper and the siding windows have seep holes built into the frames. ..Willy.

 

[66788]

RV type windows have a bottom track that can fill up with water and if not properly drained, can drain down the inside of the RV. To avoid that, the manufacturers make slits in the lower track on the outside of the windows to allow any water trapped to be drained outside the RV and not inside.

Most RVers don't know this initially and don't keep the slits free of debris. They learn fast when the inside of the RV starts to catch the overflow.

Unfortunately this doesn't apply to most van windows because the van windows use automotive style framing, not RV.

 

[gypsychic]

My recommendation. The cord is user-replaceable with a 12V cord for sale at the brand's website.

...

I've been running the "Petite" electric dehumidifier in my car the past couple weeks and I find I have to turn it off because the air gets too dry. Dry mouth, dry eyes, and completely dry environment. Done and done.

Since I anticipate spending a lot of time in this area, I'm basically building my new setup around this dehumidifier as an essential component for comfort and health.

Bitty, now that you're in a van, do you find the Eva-Dry 1100 to be adequate in a PNW winter (although it has been a drier than usual winter, at least here in PDX.) Also, how do you run it, just off your starter battery when your van is running or do you have a house battery set-up? I guess a better question is how many hours are you running it per day?

I'm looking at the stats for this little gadget and at 2.5A that's 60 amp hrs just to run the dehumidifier. Now I think that being in a cold humid environment is less tolerable than just being in a cold environment. Somehow the moisture just makes it feel colder. Plus the health issues, possible mold issues, etc. So I'm looking at your advice & wondering how it's faring in your van and how often you need to run it.

My energy consumption needs are minimal except for that item. If I use the Eva-Dry it will force me to get a battery and then figure out how to keep it charged adequately, etc. Just trying to way the pros and con's of that little device. It's not just the cost of the device & 12v cord, but how to keep it functioning during the winter rainy season.

Thanks in advance to Bitty and anyone else who has advice/comments.

Cheers

 

[SoulRaven]

If you have factory A/C in your rig, depending on your particular rig, sometimes you can run it even if you're running the heat. The factory A/C is a pretty efficient dehumidifier, and I have friends who drive with theirs turned on year round to help combat moisture problems.

The A/C can also defog windows quicker than your normal defroster sometimes too.