Dehumidifiers

[Gents]

Please give any feedback, I am looking for a unit that will just keep my van dry over winter.

 

[pappajohn]

Open some windows.
Ventilation is the best thing for preventing condensation and damp.

As a dehumidifier dries the air more moist are is drawn in through vents etc so is a waste of time.
The internal and external air will always try to equalise.

 

[DBK]

Just have a search on here and you will find lots of threads about this. You will also find all the opinions which no doubt will be posted on this thread in a short while.

But the interior shouldn't be damp so finding out why it is would be a good first step.

 

[Clivefog]

Our Conway folding camper had canvas walls and ends, and with the best will in the World would seldom be put away bone dry. I placed a 99p moisture trap on the floor replacing every 2 months over the winter and never had any damp or mould problems. Carried on doing it in the first motorhome and the moisture trap stayed dry over a few months, including being used as a spare bedroom for a week, did the heating help not sure?
Not bothered since. Current motorhome has floor vents and a roof vent in the bathroom so no point using anything. I do check inside the back of all the lockers every month or so over the winter on the days when the car has moisture on the inside of the windows, not found anything yet, nor has the moisture meter!

 

[rwg]

Hi,

I just ordered a dehumidifier for our new van this morning. The key is to make sure you get a dessicant based dehumidifier, not a compressor one, since compressor ones do not work at all well when the air is cold. Dessicant humidifiers have a slowly rotating drum of zeolite that collects the water vapour from the air and at one point on the circle there is a heating chamber that heats the drum, drives off the moisture into warm, damp air, which is then blown over a cold metal plate to condense the liquid. This sort will work down to about 1C.

Personally, I ordered an EcoAir DD1 Simple, as I have had one of these for a few years keeping an outbuilding that contains equipment dry, and it has worked well. It has a target humidity dial and will come on when the humidity rises above that level and go off again when the humidity drops. In a van/motorhome it should run less as there will be less draughts bringing in new humidity than in an outbuilding

cheers,

Robin

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[PP Bear]

Been using one of these for past 10 years and it’s excellent at doing the job.

I don’t bother opening windows, as there’s enough natural ventilation built into the floor for gas escaping etc.

Amazon product ASIN B00GRDNV4G

 

[TerryL]

I'm with the "waste of time" camp. If there is no damp issue already all a humidifier will do is try to dry more air drawn through the van's own natural ventilation. We used to put a couple of the dessicant type absorbers in but they needed changing every couple of weeks and made no apparent difference anyway.

We leave ours with internal doors and lockers open to allow natural circulation and in 12 years have never had a problem. That said, until this year the van has never been left standing for more than a few weeks - we bought it to use and do so all year long when possible.

 

[POH]

Been using one of these for past 10 years and it’s excellent at doing the job.

I don’t bother opening windows, as there’s enough natural ventilation built into the floor for gas escaping etc.

View attachment 547367

Amazon product ASIN B00GRDNV4G

Very good got ours from the range and asda sometimes asda do a offer on the refills .

 

[Podney]

I’m a non believer and haven’t had any problems as a result.

If you are not using the van for holidays in the winter,take it for a run every 4 weeks to keep everything working. Take out all cushions,bed covers etc .

 

[Landy Andy]

I run a dehumidifier all the time the van isn’t used. It’s waste hose goes into the drain and out the waste tank that I leave open. It keeps the air dry, and circulated inside the van. Due to this we leave beds, sofas, and everything inside the van ready to head off.

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[Mikeco]

The only place that I have seen dehumidifiers used to effect is on a building site when they have been used to dry out a room after a wet trade such as plastering. For that to work the room had to be airtight, this won’t and can’t happen in a motorhome. So that’s a no from me then.

 

[Wizz]

Just a different tact on the subject. I used one of these to very good effect last winter and it worked very well.

 

[Adam b]

Ventilate you’re van & save your money.

 

[Alanben]

Surely , if you leave windows open for natural ventilation, it allows damp moist air to enter the van and make everything damp? Its a dehumidifier for me every time! I have used one for 15 winters on all the boats and vans that I have owned with great success.

 

[Landy Andy]

Even if a dehumidifier draws in the air from outside, it still won’t make the air damper than it was/would be. It also creates circulation of the air inside. I assume those that say it’s not worth it as vehicle isn’t sealed, and air tight also never use the vans aircon.