Does damp rid have a place in rving in winter/cooler temps

[dcason]

due to rv being closed up. We will begin our full time adventure in early September but for many years we have been quasi retired and used our rv for 2month long trips. This past winter in AZ but at sons so cooler temperatures (like high teens) with rv closed up and condensation...I was wiping the windows a lot.

Any ideas how to combat this when you are trying to keep it warm in rv. We had been using Mr. Buddy so he was part of the problem but 2 adults and one lovely dog in rv that is 24 feet long was pouring moisture into the air and then add showers.

Any ideas for cutting down on moisture that doesn't involve me running around wiping windows.

[afidel]

valhalla360 wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
If you have humidity problems, go to a big box store and buy the smallest compressor driven dehumidifier you can find. It will do the trick.

You can minimize adding moisture but this is really the only true solution but doing it off grid is a problem.

Damp Rid can help if it's in the back of a closet with little airflow but won't really have any noticeable impact on the larger living space.

Look up the specs on dehumidifiers. A small one might have a 2.5 gallon reservoir and running continuously, you may have to dump the water multiple times per day. How many crystals will you need to absorb say 30-40 gallons of water per week?

If you're living in it that's correct, but it does have its place. We've stored our trailer in a cave over the winter and Damp Rid or similar is essential to keep the moisture low enough for stuff not to grow. 4-5 64oz buckets was enough to keep our 18' trailer smelling good enough that an hour of fresh air was enough that you wouldn't notice. Lady at check-in said some folks ignore their warning in order to save a few bucks, costs them a LOT more in mold and mildew damage.

[ktmrfs]

Grit dog wrote:
The Buddy heater was more than "part" of the problem. It was likely the majority of the problem. Heating a good size camper in "high teens" ambient temps, is what? 1 or 2 20lb bottles a week?
Each 20lb bottle of LP puts about 4 gallons of water into the air.
Why one would use a buddy heater more than occasionally if full timing it in anything more than a motorhomeless situation, I don't understand.

Ditch the buddy heater, run a dehumidifier if necessary, kick the dog outside!

yup, burning any fossil fuel yields CO2 and H2O + heat. In the case of propane, 1 gallon of propane burned dumps slightly less than a gallon of water into the air.

[dcason]

I bought a small dehumidifier for use in florida/3 months, summers in NY, christmas in ny for a month? and we will wing it boondocking or go to warmer areas.

[Grit_dog]

The Buddy heater was more than "part" of the problem. It was likely the majority of the problem. Heating a good size camper in "high teens" ambient temps, is what? 1 or 2 20lb bottles a week?
Each 20lb bottle of LP puts about 4 gallons of water into the air.
Why one would use a buddy heater more than occasionally if full timing it in anything more than a motorhomeless situation, I don't understand.

Ditch the buddy heater, run a dehumidifier if necessary, kick the dog outside!

[JIMNLIN]

So open vent and window is pretty much and run heat on the wall instead of mr. buddy and vent shower after usage...cooking run exhaust fan.

WE lived in a 30' 5th wheel trailer with bd room and 13' living area slide for one winter in Oklahoma where in our area we have constant winds and had temps down to just below zero at times.
We tried all the cracking windows/vents...fans to move air around but all that did was create a cold drafty camper with the central heat running 24/7 and burning a 30 gal lp tank every 2 days. Sweat everywhere and was really bad.
Full timers at the local KOA park said to use dehumidifiers. We bought one and it helped so we bought another. No more sweat on the windows/walls/ceiling or in the closets. And we had a warm dry camper after that.
Burning LP inside does create humidity ...as others say use the power vent behind the stove when cooking especially something that requires heating/boiling water.

[K3WE]

"Damp rid" will indeed pull water from the air, and is most cool to watch.

The limitation is that "a pint" of damp rid will grab a pint of water- and it's done. (That's not a chemistry statement, its that the container is about 1 pint in size.)

A dehumidifier will grab a pint of water in a couple hours, and keep going for days, weeks, months (as-needed)...(assuming there's a drain hooked up).

Which one really removes moisture?

[dcason]

We did just buy a smaller compressor dehumidifier that we will use when we volunteer in florida and when we are NY at kids house in summer...both plugged in.
donna

[valhalla360]

ktmrfs wrote:
If you have humidity problems, go to a big box store and buy the smallest compressor driven dehumidifier you can find. It will do the trick.

You can minimize adding moisture but this is really the only true solution but doing it off grid is a problem.

Damp Rid can help if it's in the back of a closet with little airflow but won't really have any noticeable impact on the larger living space.

Look up the specs on dehumidifiers. A small one might have a 2.5 gallon reservoir and running continuously, you may have to dump the water multiple times per day. How many crystals will you need to absorb say 30-40 gallons of water per week?

[dcason]

We do have a multiple battery solar system.

Yeah, need to keep a window cracked as well. We also carry a extra propane tank (extra bbq style...so don't plow into us/boom).
donna

[Tvov]

Make sure you open a window when you turn on the vent fans.

When we camp, I always have the bathroom roof vent opened an inch or two and a window in the living area opened an inch to allow for ventilation.

Your propane wall heater will draw power, but it is just a fan -

Do you have a multiple battery solar system? If not, it may be something to look into so you have more stored power available.

[dcason]

Forgot to say that we mostly boondock so solar is our power...so electric heat pretty much out of question.

Thanks for the tip on spilling damp rid...didn't know that.

So open vent and window is pretty much and run heat on the wall instead of mr. buddy and vent shower after usage...cooking run exhaust fan.

[rhagfo]

ktmrfs wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Leave a roof vent cracked.
Use an electric heater rather than propane heaters.
Run a dehumidifier.
Damp Rid won't hurt, but might not provide enough, in and of itself.

no difference between electric heat and propane furnace. both just heat the inside air, nothing else.

Now propane oven or stove will add water to the air from combustion, about 1 gallon of water per gallon of propane burned. But furnace will NOT add any water to the air in the trailer, it is all vented outside.

Propane unvented heaters, another story, they also dump water into the air.

If you have humidity problems, go to a big box store and buy the smallest compressor driven dehumidifier you can find. It will do the trick.

Nailed it!
We full time in the cool moist PNW, always run range vent when cooking, bathroom vent when showering.
We use Cheap Heat electric add on unit to our furnace for heating most of the time.
Will NEVER use a moisture absorption crystals as if you spill the fluid on a porous surface it will never be dry again.

[DrewE]

To avoid condensation on the windows, the dew point of the air in the RV needs to be lower than the inside surface temperature of the glass. With single-pane windows and cold outside temperatures, that means the indoor relative humidity needs to be less than something around 20% (depending on the exact temperatures involved), which is getting pretty low for one's comfort or health. In short, it may not really be practical to avoid all condensation.

That's not to suggest that you wouldn't benefit from some dehumidification and/or air exchange; it is very easy for the air in a closed-up RV that you're living in to get quite moist.

[ktmrfs]

spoon059 wrote:
Leave a roof vent cracked.
Use an electric heater rather than propane heaters.
Run a dehumidifier.
Damp Rid won't hurt, but might not provide enough, in and of itself.

no difference between electric heat and propane furnace. both just heat the inside air, nothing else.

Now propane oven or stove will add water to the air from combustion, about 1 gallon of water per gallon of propane burned. But furnace will NOT add any water to the air in the trailer, it is all vented outside.

Propane unvented heaters, another story, they also dump water into the air.

If you have humidity problems, go to a big box store and buy the smallest compressor driven dehumidifier you can find. It will do the trick.