My previous van was too small to have cabinets, but my current van does. Plus storage under the bed and in the loft over the drivers area. It's raining where I am, and it will be for the next week or more. The walls inside the cabinets and in the storage areas are WET. Luckily, I put my clothes inside garbage bags, in the cabinets. The insides of the garbage bags seem to be dry so far. But what can I do about all this water? It's condensation, not leaks. I've been opening all the windows and doors and the ceiling fan, running the heat full blast. But it only help so much when the outside air is 100% humidity.Dehumidifiers are expensive, but do I need to buy one?

Try some of These,works for me.

Hi Naio,Condensation happens when the surface of the material is below the dew point temperature. Two solutions may be used together to help ameliorate this issue. Raise the surface temperature of the material and/or lower the relative humidity inside the RV. Leave the cabinet doors open.Radiant heaters warm the surface they are pointed at so they may help the surface to get higher than the dew point.If you have shore power, then try placing a "trouble" lamp with a 60 watt bulb at the bottom of a cabinet against the exterior wall. Be careful to leave an air gap--you don't wish to burn the RV cabinet. If that solves the issue, then add other similar lamps.If you are NOT on shore power then place a 12 volt fan blowing air into the bottom of the cabinet. Use the lowest speed that solves the issue. If it works on one cabinet--add additional fans.For window condensation, place a 3 inch wide strip of insulation on the outside bottom of the window. The condensate will flow down the window until it hits the warmer glass and then return to the air inside the RV.Do not use an unvented blue flame or catalytic heater. They add a huge amount of water vapor.Cracking a roof vent and opening the window farthest away from the vent may help. If an electric heater is placed at the open part of the window it helps even more.I found that running an electric heater, and the roof air conditioner at the same time would drop the relative humidity dramatically--which lowers the dew point temperature. This "forces" the roof air conditioner to become more of a dehumidifier. Obviously this requires a lot of power. Be sure to monitor voltage and if it drops below 107 do not run the roof air. I found that in extreme cold the air conditioner fans did not wish to operate, but at those temperatures the relative humidity is so low that dew point issues are not much of a problem.Another shore power solution is to use a dehumidifier. They work better the higher the temperature is inside the RV.I hope this helps.

Thank you, folks! I have seen the strips of insulation before and I didn't know what they were about :-).It seems I will have to create some sort of spacer, to raise my clothes above the bottom of the cabinets, a few inches for a fan, or quite a lot more than that for a 60 watt bulb. Maybe heating pads would be useful.I am on shore power right now, but my rig does not have an AC.

Insulation helps. What kind of heater are you unsung? Other sources of moisture?Keeping air circulating is key as well.

Naio wrote:My previous van was too small to have cabinets, but my current van does. Plus storage under the bed and in the loft over the drivers area. It's raining where I am, and it will be for the next week or more. The walls inside the cabinets and in the storage areas are WET. Luckily, I put my clothes inside garbage bags, in the cabinets. The insides of the garbage bags seem to be dry so far. But what can I do about all this water? It's condensation, not leaks. I've been opening all the windows and doors and the ceiling fan, running the heat full blast. But it only help so much when the outside air is 100% humidity.Dehumidifiers are expensive, but do I need to buy one? YES Cheap at walmart.

What do you do for condensation inside cabinets?

22 Replies

msmith1_wa
Explorer
Dec 04, 2019
If the outside metal of the van is the back side of the cabinet some ridged or even reflectix type insulation would help.
Naio
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2019
Thank you, everyone, for all the helpful suggestions! I think my solution is going to involve a bit of everything.

I ordered a small dehumidifier, and some damp rid type stuff. I picked up a tiny heater at a thrift store. I'm running my big heater, with a window and the roof vent open, for about 6 hours a day, some in the morning and some in the evening. I'm keeping the cabinet doors open. The weather has improved a little, but not a lot.

The insides of my cabinets are finally dry!

The weather has improved a little, but not a lot. I think the thing that tipped me over into problem land was that I tried to dry my wet rain clothes, and a couple pieces of wet laundry, in front of the heater with the roof vent closed. Now I know better.

Long-term, I might make some structural changes to the cabinets. And I was planning to build more cabinets next summer, so now I know that I need to incorporate air circulation into the new ones!
Grit_dog
Navigator
Dec 02, 2019
Or since it’s a diy conversion, if you go full hippie and put a small wood stove in it for heat, that will dry things out as good as a dehumidifier.
PastorCharlie
Explorer
Dec 02, 2019
Without removing the moisture from inside the van it only absorbs into the furniture, paneling, carpet, walls, ceiling, clothes, and any material that is porous. It will cause mold, rot and rust. What are those items worth?

Being cheap is not always cheap. Hisense makes a good dehumidifier, Lowes is a good source.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Dec 02, 2019
Does the van run?
Drive somewhere it's not raining?
Dunno what your van looks like but diy conversion could mean about anything.
It's hard to keep moisture down in a full size truck camper, with good insulation, forced air heat, if there's multiple people and it's wet/winter weather, wet clothes etc.
Keep air circulating with a fan and get a dehumidifier if that doesn't work.
olfarmer
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2019
If your humidity is that high, I think a dehumidifier is your best bet. They are not terribly expensive. I would check Walmart and Amazon as well as the big lumberyard chains.
RambleOnNW
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2019
We take and run a large 60-pint dehumidifier that draws around 600 wats when in high humidity or cold locations. That is the only way to keep the humidity down to a reasonable level of 60-65%. The unit is heavy but fits well under the dinette table between the table leg and bench seat and I block it in with other gear so it doesn’t roll out.

Normally we keep that dehumidifier in the garage.

During our stay we have it running in the back. We only used it once this year at the end of October when it got below freezing and we had hook ups.

We also have one of the small 80 watt units that uses a Peltier effect device but being small has less effect.
mdcamping
Explorer
Dec 01, 2019
Naio wrote:
My previous van was too small to have cabinets, but my current van does. Plus storage under the bed and in the loft over the drivers area.

It's raining where I am, and it will be for the next week or more. The walls inside the cabinets and in the storage areas are WET. Luckily, I put my clothes inside garbage bags, in the cabinets. The insides of the garbage bags seem to be dry so far.

But what can I do about all this water? It's condensation, not leaks.
I've been opening all the windows and doors and the ceiling fan, running the heat full blast. But it only help so much when the outside air is 100% humidity.

Dehumidifiers are expensive, but do I need to buy one?

You said your running the heat, Dehumidifiers will also keep your space warm so you might not need to run your other heat source if your cold. Best to keep your windows closed.

Mike
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2019
I keep Damp Rid in enclosed storage areas and change them out every couple of months. Have also been known to run heat from a space heater and A/C to reduce humidity when in a cool humid area. Our biggest areas are the windshield, the outermost storage area under the bed exposed to the cold outside, storage under the dinnette booths and husband's closet ( he doesn't get into it 15 times a day like I do mine LOL ). You can purchase these type of things at Dollar Tree for $1 each. Sometimes in near cleaning supplies, other times near fabric storage and closet storage items.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Dec 01, 2019
Hi Naio,

What type of electric heater? If fan based, make a "mini" clothes rack and place it so the heater blows on the wet clothing.

I think that vents and windows fully open is over kill. You may be bringing in so much moisture through the windows that the heater can't keep up.

Sending wishes for you to be warm and dry tonight.

Here is the cheapest on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/TOSOT-Dehumidifier-Small-Rooms-Square/dp/B07B4WHXHD/ref=sr_1_53_sspa?keywords=dehumidifier&qid=1575232741&sr=8-53-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExR1lJU1NSVURFNVlUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTgxMjM5Njg4MEhCOTNZVzJOJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA1MjU0ODYxSTJDVzRETEdPN1g2JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYnRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

and here is a Walmart unit:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Soleus-Air-30-Pint-Dehumidifier/40900316

And Lowes:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Soleus-Air-SoleusAir-30-Pint-3-Speed-Dehumidifier/1000930644