Condensation issues in the shop

[Hobby_Man22]

Temps went from 20 degrees to 75 in the last 5 days or so. Walked into the shop and the slab, boat and tractor are all sweating harder than a fat guy in the sauna.

If I remember right, the way to get this go away is heat the building, well the building isn't much cooler than outside temps right now. What am I supposed to heat it up to? Can I use a garage heater, or does it need to be something that also dries the air too? What if I just run the dehumidifer? Personally I think it's more of a humidity issue when on the gulf coast humidity is 80 percent or more most times.

 

[larry_g]

Warm moist air will condense on a colder surface. So the keep the warm moist air out of the shop till the interior warms up. I fight this every spring when things are starting to warm up outside and the inside of the shop is still cold. The first line of defense is to keep the doors closed.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Warm moist air will condense on a colder surface. So the keep the warm moist air out of the shop till the interior warms up. I fight this every spring when things are starting to warm up outside and the inside of the shop is still cold. The first line of defense is to keep the doors closed.

lg
no neat sig line

So will running the dehumidifier stop this?

 

[Jackfre]

A humidifier will help, but ”probably” (?) not be able to keep up with the rapid air temp changes and the condensation that change creates. It will likely require additional heat as well. It happens everywhere. Used to drive me nuts in MA when I’d find everything sweating.

 

[larry_g]

So will running the dehumidifier stop this?

I doubt it. You have to warm up the masses, tractor, boat, floor, and all else that is colder than the dew point of the air in the building. To me the secret is keeping the warm air from rushing into the building. I would think that it would take a massive dehumidifier to remove the moisture from the air as fast as the temp is changing.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Hobby_Man22]

A humidifier will help, but ”probably” (?) not be able to keep up with the rapid air temp changes and the condensation that change creates. It will likely require additional heat as well. It happens everywhere. Used to drive me nuts in MA when I’d find everything sweating.Just have to hvac it 24/7 to keep this from happening, that way everything stays at a steady temp.

Just have to hvac it 24/7 to keep everything at a steady temp I guess

 

[fitter30]

Raise the temperature RH lowers. Doesn't matter how.
Mass- air temperature is easy to change. The mass a lot harder.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Raise the temperature RH lowers. Doesn't matter how.
Mass- air temperature is easy to change. The mass a lot harder.

Not around here on the gulf coast. it's always humid.

 

[PoorUB]

If I recall you have air conditioning. If it is warm enough in the building, run the AC for an hour or two. It might be enough to knock the humidity down.
Obviously, this won't work if the building is something like 50F or colder, but if it is 70'ish inside it should help.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Install a ceiling fan and run it 24/7.

 

[Dagny]

Both more heat and dehumidify.

 

[Dagny]

You cant stop infiltration. open a big door for a minute all new air.