We just got back from a week long trip to Michigan. The trip was great with our only complaint being the humid conditions both inside and outside the RV. It rained just about every night and the outside humidity was near 80% with temperatures in the low 80's. Inside the RV was also humid. I experimented with the AC settings to try and drop the humidity as much as possibly. Still at night the humidity inside our 21ft TT would climb to around 70% with a temperature setting on the t-stat of about 72 deg F. Over the course of the week I tried several things to drop the humidity. Ultimately, I found turning the AC off in the afternoon and then on just before bed would drop it to the 55% range. However over the course of the night it would climb back up to 70% again making for an uncomfortable sleep.This is the first time I experience this to this extent. Does anyone have any recommendations for dropping the RH inside the RV? Is my 1.5 ton A/C too large for the TT to draw out the humidity? Does anyone run a dehumidifier inside their TT?

Hi,Run the air conditioner AND a small electric heater (about 500 watts). The heater will cause the air to remove a whole bunch more moisture.Otherwise, what happens as the end result, is cold and clammy with high humidity.

X2 on heat and AC. Our newest locomotives, they removed the adjustable thermostat for the AC, so I turn on the strip heaters and run the AC and it helps.

This is why for almost everyone the 13,500 AC works the best… the 15,000 is to big…The real and bigger problem is inefficient insulation and rapid air exchange…The 13.5 was far too big for my old 20 trailer…Running a heater to force the AC to run longer might work, but is extremely counter intuitive… unfortunately energy efficiency isn’t even in the RV industries vocabulary…You would be far better off with a smaller AC than running a heater…

You can also run an oscilating fan which moves the air around. This in itself will reduce humidity, add the AC and you should be good. We are from MI, in MI right now, so we know what you have been experiencing. We have our AC on and the humidity level in our motorhome stays around 55%. We keep all doors, windows and vents closed and are using the 13,500 btu unit.

The general problem is due to the AC being too big for the trailer in the nighttime conditions. It cycles off too often to remove the humidity. Since you may need the full capacity of the AC on a hot day and electric heaters are cheap, I'm in complete agreement to load down the AC a bit with electric heater. Somewhere in the neighborhood 500 to 750 watts should be a starting point for experiment. It will keep the compressor cycle much longer to remove more moisture.

Humidity at Night | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

ken07734
Explorer
Jul 11, 2013
try a few ridx buckets around the trailer. might pull some humidity out of the air
Squonk61
Explorer II
Jul 11, 2013
I love dry Canadian air. Please send it to Vermont, it's been in the 70s dew point for weeks and nothing is going to help it other than moving into a shopping mall.
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
washley1 wrote:
Imagine humidity at 70% in the summer and thinking that's high! Come on down to FLA this summer where the humidity is often at 90%! LOL

Agreed. Come on down south. What you described is life. Lol
slarsen
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Humidity in So. Indiana is much like Florida, specifically the Gulf Coast, in the summer. But if it's hot, the A/C runs and by and large, takes care of it.

It's the in-between times that are a problem: cloudy, cool, rainy, springtime when the ground is cool so A/C won't run but humidity is high, etc. That's when additional dehumidification can really make a difference in comfort AND keeping mold/mildew away. Once mold gets started, it's a constant struggle to stop it and keep it stopped, and only controlling humidity can accomplish it.
washley1
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Imagine humidity at 70% in the summer and thinking that's high! Come on down to FLA this summer where the humidity is often at 90%! LOL
slarsen
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Or you could buy a dehumidifier, which would solve the problem you described and it might well fix some problems in other seasons as well.

I have a high capacity dehumidifier in my home, and no matter what the weather or time of year, it keeps the humidity perfect:45%. Except in January, when the HUmidifier kicks in.
DRSMPS
Explorer
Jul 09, 2013
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll look to purchase a small electric ceramic-type heater and give this a try.

As some of you touched on, the problem doesn't seem to exist during the hotter days. Just the cooler rainy nights. My AC isn't working hard enough to condense the humidity.

FYI - I had purchased some of those disposable moisture traps (calcium chloride units I believe) and set them up last night but they didn't help much. I'll give the heater a try next.

Thanks again for the advise.
1fastdad
Explorer
Jul 09, 2013
The real problem is that it rained most of the time.
JJBIRISH
Explorer
Jul 09, 2013
tpi wrote:
The general problem is due to the AC being too big for the trailer in the nighttime conditions. It cycles off too often to remove the humidity. Since you may need the full capacity of the AC on a hot day and electric heaters are cheap, I'm in complete agreement to load down the AC a bit with electric heater. Somewhere in the neighborhood 500 to 750 watts should be a starting point for experiment. It will keep the compressor cycle much longer to remove more moisture.

Well I agree when it’s on the CG owners dime…

Ever wonder why park owners want to consider metering electric…
tpi
Explorer
Jul 09, 2013
The general problem is due to the AC being too big for the trailer in the nighttime conditions. It cycles off too often to remove the humidity. Since you may need the full capacity of the AC on a hot day and electric heaters are cheap, I'm in complete agreement to load down the AC a bit with electric heater. Somewhere in the neighborhood 500 to 750 watts should be a starting point for experiment. It will keep the compressor cycle much longer to remove more moisture.

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Humidity at Night

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