Dehumidify your Garage IF...

[tattooman]

Dehumidify your Garage IF...

Install a low-cost Dehumidifier in your Garage if your high-humidity summers are damaging your tools.

A few summers ago, our region had more than usual number of extremely high humidity Summer days, combined with some strange cool winds, or some strange combination of those two things that caused MANY hand tools in my garage to rust and corrode beyond repair and restoration. Examples of perfectly good tools that got destroyed that I can remember were 70's era Craftsman sockets (the good stuff from the day), Hand Saws, cheaper screwdrivers (aka, not high quality chrome versions, more like old Stanley, etc). Pliers, vice grips, and all other kinds of hand tools, including some high quality hand tools (non-chromed) whose surface passivity treatments were not originally designed to hold up to high-humidities with frequent dew-point threshold related problems etc., which was the difference during this summer in particular.

I was pretty shitcanned about having to pitch so many good tools that had served me a long time, and vowed to fix the problem before replacing them.

Anyway I tried a medium priced higher capacity name-branded dehumidifier, not a true commercial high-duty cycle unit, but a Samsung I think, around $150, no biggie. The key is to run it at <= 50% (on Medium or Low versus High fan setting), 24x7, since it's not designed to run continually at a High fan setting. Anyway it's been running for two summers now, and none of my tools have been damaged, given normal maintenance.

So for you guys that don't have humidity or dew point problems, or have A/C in your garage, you're GTG, so this thread is for the poor schmucks like me who have, or eventually will have (as I did), this particular problem. Think about it this way, if you're always on the edge, consider getting one now before you're forced to do it after losing a bunch of tools you care about.

If any of you guys want let me know and I'll post the brand and model number, since my particular unit is STILL GOING without problems, which is pretty good for a non-commercial grade household type dehumidifier.

Chow friends.

 

[Metal-Marc]

I run a mini split in my garage year round. Problem solved.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I keep the ac on in summer & heat in winter no issues.

 

[nolimits76]

One of the reasons I am going to try one of those portable air conditioners that also has heat control. About the same price as the dehumidifier but you also get some added temp control. Expectations are low but figured it was a starting point as I don’t want to drop coin on a mini split.

 

[bluedog225]

I’m not going to throw away a tool due to a little rust.

 

[mike93lx]

I’m not going to throw away a tool due to a little rust.

Yeah, this doesn't smell right...feels spammy

 

[58Yeoman]

I've been running a dehumidifier in my shop for a few years, it's the one from the house basement that "conked out." It's been working great in the shop, running 24/7 during warm months. It sits on a shelf next to the sink and drains into that, so no buckets to empty.

We use a small a/c in the bedroom in the summer to keep the room cold for sleeping. Getting up in age, I don't really like having to install the window a/c every spring, so I looked into those portable a/c's. If you notice, they have two btu ratings because they put all that hot air back into your room, plus you have to empty the bucket. Not for me, I'll continue to install the window a/c every year.

 

[gregs]

If you can keep the doors closed during the big temperature swings, that helps a lot. I am in Florida so its humid year round. I have found that if your building is insulated you can run a couple of box fans 24/7 and that makes a big difference. I also have a/c to cool it off when I go to work out there and dont have to open everything up.

 

[MadWheelie]

This whole thing reads like a sales pitch. In my main garage that we use just to park the cars and store junk, the humidity reaches ridiculous levels and I have left tools in there for over a year without any ill effects. Now my garage in the basement which has all the tools is another story, it has a dehumidifier keeping it around 50% RH all year (with the exception of the winter since humidity is way down then). However, in our last house with a basement garage, I never ran a dehumidifier and never had any tools rust on me.

 

[stick70]

My shop is 30x50 with ~20' ceiling, but very air tight. We had a summer similar to OP where I got real bad mildew in every car, where for 3 years or so I had no issue. For me a home depot dehumidifier did the trick. I can't remember the size but it's about 1'x2'x3'. No more mildew, it stays 55% in there all the time, and the machine cycles on and off as needed. For a stick built or something with open eaves I don't think it would work, but in my insulated steel building it's very nice.

 

[TractorJeff]

Dehumidify your Garage IF...

Install a low-cost Dehumidifier in your Garage if your high-humidity summers are damaging your tools.

A few summers ago, our region had more than usual number of extremely high humidity Summer days, combined with some strange cool winds, or some strange combination of those two things that caused MANY hand tools in my garage to rust and corrode beyond repair and restoration. Examples of perfectly good tools that got destroyed that I can remember were 70's era Craftsman sockets (the good stuff from the day), Hand Saws, cheaper screwdrivers (aka, not high quality chrome versions, more like old Stanley, etc). Pliers, vice grips, and all other kinds of hand tools, including some high quality hand tools (non-chromed) whose surface passivity treatments were not originally designed to hold up to high-humidities with frequent dew-point threshold related problems etc., which was the difference during this summer in particular.

I was pretty shitcanned about having to pitch so many good tools that had served me a long time, and vowed to fix the problem before replacing them.

Anyway I tried a medium priced higher capacity name-branded dehumidifier, not a true commercial high-duty cycle unit, but a Samsung I think, around $150, no biggie. The key is to run it at <= 50% (on Medium or Low versus High fan setting), 24x7, since it's not designed to run continually at a High fan setting. Anyway it's been running for two summers now, and none of my tools have been damaged, given normal maintenance.

So for you guys that don't have humidity or dew point problems, or have A/C in your garage, you're GTG, so this thread is for the poor schmucks like me who have, or eventually will have (as I did), this particular problem. Think about it this way, if you're always on the edge, consider getting one now before you're forced to do it after losing a bunch of tools you care about.

If any of you guys want let me know and I'll post the brand and model number, since my particular unit is STILL GOING without problems, which is pretty good for a non-commercial grade household type dehumidifier.

Chow friends.

GE brand $137 at Walmart 4yrs ago. Still running fine

 

[Jeepster04]

I've almost always had a dehumidifier in my garage. Never had moisture issues.

Having ac in the garage could make tools rust even more depending on how often you open the garage door on hot humid days. Everything will be below the dew point.

 

[jbtvt]

Unless you have an inverter AC unit, as far as I'm aware, your compressor pump will be running the same speed and consuming the same watts as it always would. So if you run your AC fan on anything other than high, you're saving maybe 5% off the electric bill but cutting unit efficiency by maybe 25%, as that refrigerant which hasn't even been fully warmed goes back through another cycle in the pump, wasting energy. All fans and blowers are designed for continuous use, worst case you may have to replace a bearing a little sooner. My AC units are always full speed or off.

As far as throwing anything away, some of my favorite tools I use almost daily were literally pulled out of the scrap pile of an estate sale I went to once. Rusty before and then left sitting in the rain for months. Little oil and fiddling with the tool to work it into the seized areas and they're good as new.