Humidity... arg!!

[stormer]

We bought a nice dehumidifier and this morning, no water on windows. Sweet. We cracked the closets doors and all cabinets... the wardrobe walls were dry! But then i reached around and behind the clothes, wet, where they touch the outside wall. Ugg! How the heck do you keep humidity out of wardrobe when clothes touch the outer wall? Leave it wide open every night so the cat can “hair up” your clothes?

Does everyone open all their cabinets every night??

[myxkp]

Originally Posted by stormer

We bought a nice dehumidifier and this morning, no water on windows. Sweet. We cracked the closets doors and all cabinets... the wardrobe walls were dry! But then i reached around and behind the clothes, wet, where they touch the outside wall. Ugg! How the heck do you keep humidity out of wardrobe when clothes touch the outer wall? Leave it wide open every night so the cat can “hair up” your clothes?

Does everyone open all their cabinets every night??

Attachment 191554Attachment 191555

DampRid is available at Amazon. Once the wardrobe is dry, keeping the doors closed should help it stay dry. Are the kitchen and bath exhaust fans working ok? Maybe leaving them on a little longer might help reduce the moisture in the air.

[JohnD10]

You may need to leave one of the roof vents cracked open just a little bit to let some of that moisture out.

[Teetime]

Originally Posted by stormer

We bought a nice dehumidifier and this morning, no water on windows. Sweet. We cracked the closets doors and all cabinets... the wardrobe walls were dry! But then i reached around and behind the clothes, wet, where they touch the outside wall. Ugg! How the heck do you keep humidity out of wardrobe when clothes touch the outer wall? Leave it wide open every night so the cat can “hair up” your clothes?

Does everyone open all their cabinets every night??

Attachment 191554Attachment 191555

Stormer, where are you camped? Not up nort I'm sure. Are you running any air conditioning?

[strgrazr]

Looking at your pic it seems that U have a similar wardrobe slide to our 2902ws, Hot in the summer, cold well when cold. We had the same issue this weekend camping in colder weather 40/25. Leaving roof hatch cracked open to lower moisture level in camper was no help in the closet. I am considering put some 1/2 insulation foam board in against the walls, ugly, or putting small 3in round brass vents in the top and bottom of the doors, nice, similar to those used on boat closet doors to allow some air exchange.
Check your linen closet, ours is in the same slide, the moisture made our towels damp.
What do U think of these ideas??? The foam board would need a panel cover to look decent.
Do you run a propane heater other than your funace? We do not, they put out alot of moisture. This is our first year in this rig, our Jayco Eagles sweated like pigs, 20+ years of that will teach U what not to do. My wife made it rain in our first camper, boiling hotdogs and a big potwater for noodles. on a rainy 35 degree day, learned about the A/C trick the hard way.

[condoonwheels]

does running a/c help with moisture?

[5picker]

Originally Posted by condoonwheels

does running a/c help with moisture?

Yes... yes it does.
Hopefully you are asking in jest?

[JohnD10]

The key to making a ceiling vent to work for removing moisture is to have another opening equal to the ceiling vent.

I found by cracking a window slightly and leaving a ceiling vent open just a crack the flow between the two would vent the moisture.

Even when cooking!

And this was in the cold Denver, Colorado winter this past year!

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by condoonwheels

does running a/c help with moisture?

We are talking winter here...

Usually it is the heater running this time of year.

Even down here in the desert southwest, we've had the heat on a couple of times this week!

[strgrazr]

In South-East Carolina near the coast just venting is not always enough while using the rig, it is rare for us to see a day below 50% humidity. Yesterday it was 72 & 100%, last night it fell to 39 degrees w/67% in 3 hours. Controlling moisture is a tuff job in our envirorment. Everything porous is soaked with moisture.
We went out to the SouthWest this summer, never thought that I would miss humidity, after a couple of weeks of 9-20%, I missed the swamp .

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by strgrazr

In South-East Carolina near the coast just venting is not always enough while using the rig, it is rare for us to see a day below 50% humidity. Yesterday it was 72 & 100%, last night it fell to 39 degrees w/67% in 3 hours. Controlling moisture is a tuff job in our envirorment. Everything porous is soaked with moisture.
We went out to the SouthWest this summer, never thought that I would miss humidity, after a couple of weeks of 9-20%, I missed the swamp .

Not me!

Born and raised in southern Michigan...where 90-100% humidity is the norm!

Loved the mountains of Colorado for the last 26 years...

Now here in the desert at 230 feet above sea level I'm getting some of that humidity back!

[Cypressloser]

Stormer, I don't know where you are located, can't see it in your profile. For us a dehumidifier is a must have, cracking a window or vent is no option, period! no matter what others say. Your closet is cooler than the rest of the cabin when the doors are closed, cooler air is much less able to hold water, the cold air sheds water like a wet dog coming out of the lake. The colder it gets in the closet the more problems you have with moisture and subsequently mold. It only gets better once the outside temperature drops below -30
There are a few things you can do:
1. Keep temperature swings, especially between day and night, to a minimum. Don't turn down the furnace at night.
2. A dehumidifier, you already got that part covered. Keep the interior humidity level around 35% and don't allow for large swings caused by cooking or showering. If your windows keep fogging up lower the humidity level slightly until they remain dry.
3. Open cabinet doors to establish temperature and humidity equilibrium with the rest of the coach.
4. Especially in the closet the clothes act as insulator and absorb the water that is released from the air when the temperature is lower than it is in the rest of the coach, this can turn into a disaster before you know it. Open the closet doors and set up a decent sized fan in the closet and run it 24/7.

[stormer]

Originally Posted by strgrazr

Looking at your pic it seems that U have a similar wardrobe slide to our 2902ws, Hot in the summer, cold well when cold. We had the same issue this weekend camping in colder weather 40/25. Leaving roof hatch cracked open to lower moisture level in camper was no help in the closet. I am considering put some 1/2 insulation foam board in against the walls, ugly, or putting small 3in round brass vents in the top and bottom of the doors, nice, similar to those used on boat closet doors to allow some air exchange.
Check your linen closet, ours is in the same slide, the moisture made our towels damp.
What do U think of these ideas??? The foam board would need a panel cover to look decent.
Do you run a propane heater other than your funace? We do not, they put out alot of moisture. This is our first year in this rig, our Jayco Eagles sweated like pigs, 20+ years of that will teach U what not to do. My wife made it rain in our first camper, boiling hotdogs and a big potwater for noodles. on a rainy 35 degree day, learned about the A/C trick the hard way.

We went down to walmart and purchased a GE 30 pint dehumidifier. ($157) then we purchased some of those closet moisture packs to put in the closet. The first night we ran the dehumidifier, poof, no more water on windows. The temp here in Columbus, TX (Thousand Trails) at the time was 28 degrees. It has warmed up now to the low 40s. However, because the wardrobe slide is "closed" (due to a "white hair" cat) it didn't help much with the moisture in the slide. So my wife used her brilliant ingenuity to simply open the doors and put her hair rubber bands on the knobs so it could stay open slightly to let it ventilate. Once the moisture is under control, everything has dried out now so I am feeling a lot better. I think the moisture packs now keep the remaining moisture under control in the closets. The propane puts a lot of moisture into the TT. So we have space heaters running mostly, but do kick on the propane to get the chill out of the air in the mornings.

Originally Posted by strgrazr

My wife made it rain in our first camper, boiling hotdogs and a big potwater for noodles. on a rainy 35 degree day, learned about the A/C trick the hard way.

hahahahaha!

Originally Posted by strgrazr

I am considering put some 1/2 insulation foam board in against the walls

That is an idea. The problem I have with these wardrobe slides is they are shallow already. My suites are "crunched" as it is. Obviously, whoever designed the depth of these wardrobe slides never imagined you might actually have normal size hangers?? So doing that wouldn't be an option for me.

Originally Posted by strgrazr

putting small 3in round brass vents in the top and bottom of the doors, nice, similar to those used on boat closet doors to allow some air exchange.

That is definitely an idea I will consider. (it beats the hair rubber band thing) ha! Now, to find someone to do it... I'd have to buy tools to do it myself and well, heck, by the time you spend for that, might as well pay someone to do it professionally who already has the tools. I like the idea. Either round or horizontal. Not even sure where I would find those? What would I search for on amazon?







This has pretty much kept our wardrobe dry. As for the linen side, we took most our clothes and pushed them forward so they were not directly on the wall.

When I pushed the hanging clothes to the side to let the back wall dry... check it in the morning... look at where the heat loss is in the slide!

[5picker]

Just a quick clarification to your comment about the furnace (propane) putting a lot of moisture in your R/V... it does not.

The combustion chamber in the furnace is sealed and exhausted to the outside of the R/V. Unless you would have a crack in the combustion chamber or the furnace is somehow compromised, all moisture from the burning of propane in the furnace is sent outside.

The warm air from the ducts is actually helpful in drying the air inside the R/V.

Burning the propane stove on the other hand, does introduce moisture.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by stormer

The propane puts a lot of moisture into the TT. So we have space heaters running mostly, but do kick on the propane to get the chill out of the air in the mornings.

Stormer: If you mean your furnace is putting a lot of moisture into the TT (as opposed to your stove), then you are promoting an urban myth. (I'm assuming you meant furnace since you state you're running space heaters instead.)

Your furnace does NOT add moisture. Yes, burning propane creates water, but that water is vented out the side along with the other combustion gases. If your furnace is truly adding moisture, then that would be an indication of a cracked heat exchanger, a VERY dangerous condition. Your CO detector would be sounding long and loud.

YOU are actually one of the largest sources of moisture. You exhale about 400 ml of water per day.

[nomad297]

Put some electric heat in your bedroom.

Bruce

[kenandterry]

How about lining the back walls with this......

https://www.lowes.ca/roll-insulation...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[stormer]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Stormer: If you mean your furnace is putting a lot of moisture into the TT (as opposed to your stove), then you are promoting an urban myth. (I'm assuming you meant furnace since you state you're running space heaters instead.)

Your furnace does NOT add moisture. Yes, burning propane creates water, but that water is vented out the side along with the other combustion gases. If your furnace is truly adding moisture, then that would be an indication of a cracked heat exchanger, a VERY dangerous condition. Your CO detector would be sounding long and loud.

YOU are actually one of the largest sources of moisture. You exhale about 400 ml of water per day.

I stand corrected! Yes, we are mouth breathers. LOL!

When I said propane I meant both furnace and stove, but agree. The furnace is vented out and not an issue. And who runs their propane stove without the fan on? Thanks for the clarification!

[ben31]

Perfect, stormer. After the air conditioner, a dehumidifier is the next best thing. The damp-rid in the closet should keep that area under control. The vents you're adding to your closet doors should help a lot.

What a lot of people don't realize is the opening of the roof vent only helps if the outside humidity is less than the inside. In many areas, that is not the case. Opening the vents in those situations only lets in more moisture. Even if it is lower outside, the process is passive and very slow.

The best thing to do is take an active role in controlling your moisture by using the air conditioner and/or a dehumidifier. Get a thermometer with a hygrometer to keep track of the humidity and keep it at about 45-50%.

[stormer]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

How about lining the back walls with this......

https://www.lowes.ca/roll-insulation...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's a pretty good idea. Have you used it in your rig? That working well for you?