Trailer condensation in cold weather

Chuck_thehammer wrote:

colliehauler wrote:

Mikesr wrote:
I've been following this thread and reading about the use of a small dehumidifier. Can anyone recommend one that would store easily in a TT ? Our home dehumidifier is a large 60 pint unit that works well in our basement but I could not imagine lugging that around in a TT.

Read Ktmrfspost. Small units are not very effective in humid conditions. I think they make a 25 pint and a 30 pint that uses a refrigeration unit.

I have been doing research on this issue..

30 pint per day is about the smallest with a compressor... I have found and about 150 in price..

I have a 70 in the basement... big, heavy, noisy....
and a 30 is about 30 pounds.

as this winter will be our first time using the travel trailer in the winter... even in South Carolina.. cool/ heat on...

last month.. in Ohio we fogged up all the windows in our 30 footer... making food for supper... Now we RUN the exhaust fan when cooking.

the 32ish pint is a good size for a trailer. 32 pints=16 quarts=4 gallons. in an area with high outside humidity, it may initally fill the bucket in 8hrs or so, then go 12-24 depending on conditions. and it is small enough to easily move and roll around and store. that is around the size of what we have. IIRC 32 pints is about the smallest compressor driven unit.

BTW there are only 2, maybe 3 mfg of ALL these compressor driven humidifiers, then multiple brands. haier is one of the mfg. the units can be found at lots of big box stores/amazon etc.

BTW when I said "small" I was referring to the units that have maybe 2-8 pint capacity using a thermoelectric element (peltia), no compressor.

we have used ours now for 3 years, and we camp 3 months/year.

you most often need the dehumidifier when outside humidity is high. in that case your near the dew point, add moisture from you, cooking etc and all the sudden inside is near the dew point, drop inside temps and cold windows= condensation.

colliehauler wrote:

Mikesr wrote:
I've been following this thread and reading about the use of a small dehumidifier. Can anyone recommend one that would store easily in a TT ? Our home dehumidifier is a large 60 pint unit that works well in our basement but I could not imagine lugging that around in a TT.

Read Ktmrfspost. Small units are not very effective in humid conditions. I think they make a 25 pint and a 30 pint that uses a refrigeration unit.

I have been doing research on this issue..

30 pint per day is about the smallest with a compressor... I have found and about 150 in price..

I have a 70 in the basement... big, heavy, noisy....
and a 30 is about 30 pounds.

as this winter will be our first time using the travel trailer in the winter... even in South Carolina.. cool/ heat on...

last month.. in Ohio we fogged up all the windows in our 30 footer... making food for supper... Now we RUN the exhaust fan when cooking.

Mikesr wrote:
I've been following this thread and reading about the use of a small dehumidifier. Can anyone recommend one that would store easily in a TT ? Our home dehumidifier is a large 60 pint unit that works well in our basement but I could not imagine lugging that around in a TT.

Read Ktmrfspost. Small units are not very effective in humid conditions. I think they make a 25 pint and a 30 pint that uses a refrigeration unit.

I've been following this thread and reading about the use of a small dehumidifier. Can anyone recommend one that would store easily in a TT ? Our home dehumidifier is a large 60 pint unit that works well in our basement but I could not imagine lugging that around in a TT.

Even if you don't cook, trailers are fairly small enclosed spaces and people exhale a fair amount of moisture overnight. Crack a roof vent of window and most of the issue will go away.

I spent the entire winter in my 5th wheel last year.
I had temps as low as -20 or below.
The only condensation issue I had was on windows.
Once the frost melted the water runs into the window frame, but my window frames have small drain slits and it carries the water outside.
I had frozen water on the side of my RV below the drains but it never felt really humid in the RV. Sort of a natural dehumidifier.

But I live alone and it will probably be worse with more people.

opland wrote:
I was going to express skepticism about dehumidifiers being the perfect solution to condensation problems because my dehumidifier can't remove enough water from the air to be called effective. Based on comments posted in this thread, apparently my dehumidifier is too small for the task. I never could open the trailer up enough to eliminate the annoying condensation and stay comfortable. Seems the answer is go big or stay home. :)

there are dehumidifiers and there are dehumidifiers. Some are small and use a thermoelectric element. IMHO not worth a darn. they will extract maybe a quart of water/day. less than what you produce from normal persperation.

The good ones are a refrigeration unit that has an exposed refrig coil that lowers the temp below the dew point and extracts moisture. Even a small roll around unit will extract 6-10 gallons of water/day in high humidity conditions. These work well. Thats what we have. figure around $100 for such a unit.

I was going to express skepticism about dehumidifiers being the perfect solution to condensation problems because my dehumidifier can't remove enough water from the air to be called effective. Based on comments posted in this thread, apparently my dehumidifier is too small for the task. I never could open the trailer up enough to eliminate the annoying condensation and stay comfortable. Seems the answer is go big or stay home. :)

We lived in our 27' 5th wheel RV with a super slide for one winter with temps down to zero and 40+ mpg winds.
I skirted the 5er with mobile home skirting which helped the central heater cycle instead of operating 24/7.
The biggest help for heating and eliminating dripping windows was installing 1/8" Lexan on the inside of all the units eleven windows.

Cracking a window or vent just made a colder drafty interior with no reduction of moisture.
We bought three fans and set them up but with the same results....just a cold drafty camper.

Finally bought a dehumidifier and helped considerably. Bought another and no more wet interior walls and closets.

We always leave the bathroom vent open and the bathroom door open as there is no heat in the bathroom. We cook out side and keep the temp at 68 when we are in there and around 62-64 if we are out or sleeping.