odd moisture issue in the garage looking for some advice

[joelowrider]

Okay, my garage is a 2 car garage attached to the house. 1/2 the garage is my wives's parking the other 1/2 I have weights a treadmill and tv.

Today I noticed when I went outside to lift weights all of my weights had moisture on them. So then kind of freaking out I checked my dream tool box it to had moisture on it as did our breaker box and any other surface in the garage.

I don't know if I should invest in a dehumidifier or change my habits.

Here are some things that might make a difference in my head but I am not sure what to change

1. It rained yesterday and went from 45 deg to 19 changing to snow.
2. My wife parked her car in the garage last night with snow on it (this can't
change)
3. I heated up the garage with a wall mounted natural gas vent-less heater I
have out there. The garage was 44 deg took it to 60 deg. I only run this
when I am out there working on something or lifting weights.

 

[rayra]

Nothing odd about condensation.

Where does the snowmelt go? Do you have a floor drain or at least a proper slab slope for drainage?

Curtain wall and dehumidifier on the side where your gear is.

You're kinda doomed, as long as your stuff sits in a cold garage and snow / moisture keeps getting introduced. You're going to get condensation on that frigid metal, unless you heat the space or partition it to keep most the moisture away. Even covering your gear won't help much, unless you do something else to abate the cold / moisture issues.

 

[PCustoms]

What rayra said.

Plus, that vent free heater is just dumping moisture into tour space as it burns natural gas.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

2. My wife parked her car in the garage last night with snow on it (this can't
change)
3. I heated up the garage with a wall mounted natural gas vent-less heater I
have out there. The garage was 44 deg took it to 60 deg. I only run this
when I am out there working on something or lifting weights.

There is your answer.

Tommy

 

[trashmanssd]

Need a dehumidifier. I run mine anytime I bring in a wet car.

 

[Showkey]

You have run the heat if your going run to the dehumidifier. Dehumidifier will Not function at temperatures like 44*. Cold temperature dehumidifier are sometimes rated for the low 40* but all they are doing in running an internal heater.

 

[bad_idea]

A fan should help. Moving air will hold more moisture. Give that a try.

 

[joelowrider]

Nothing odd about condensation.

Where does the snowmelt go? Do you have a floor drain or at least a proper slab slope for drainage?

Curtain wall and dehumidifier on the side where your gear is.

You're kinda doomed, as long as your stuff sits in a cold garage and snow / moisture keeps getting introduced. You're going to get condensation on that frigid metal, unless you heat the space or partition it to keep most the moisture away. Even covering your gear won't help much, unless you do something else to abate the cold / moisture issues.

I do have good slope
No floor drain they wouldn't approve of it here unless we had some crazy expensive oil water separator.

I will have to look into a dehumidifier

 

[joelowrider]

I am going to look at a dehumidifier, should i also consider electric heater set at like 50 or something all the time? It would loose it everytime the garage door opened though. But I could wire it up to only run with the door closed

 

[My Old Tools]

Said above, get a fan. Moving air does't condense as much. To be clear, warm air contacting cold metal is the basic problem. You can warm all your metal above the dew point if you can afford it, or lower the moisture content of the air, or keep the air moving, effectively evaporating the moisture before it can settle.

 

[joelowrider]

Said above, get a fan. Moving air does't condense as much. To be clear, warm air contacting cold metal is the basic problem. You can warm all your metal above the dew point if you can afford it, or lower the moisture content of the air, or keep the air moving, effectively evaporating the moisture before it can settle.

I do have a fan in the ceiling would you run it all the time or just when it snows or when I run the heat?

 

[htmdude57]

You have run the heat if your going run to the dehumidifier.

But wouldn't running a dehumidifier warm up the garage? The one I remember having when I was a kid put warm air out the front.

 

[AndyL]

Soffit vent fan on a hygrostat. Humidity above x% fan comes on and exhausts until humidity below that level.

 

[ItsNemo]

Soffit vent fan on a hygrostat. Humidity above x% fan comes on and exhausts until humidity below that level.

This. Need to vent the moisture outside, no different than using a bathroom fan after a shower.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Get rid of the ventless heater and install a proper vented-to-the-outside heater that doesn’t have the monoxide threat and won’t dump so much moisture inside.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You probably have the issue all the time you just don't notice it. Once it rained and the air was humid already, you added melted snow to the moisture content in the garage. After firing up the heat, the cold stuff is going to sweat with the high moisture content out in the garage.

 

[johnnyradiant]

I do have good slope
No floor drain they wouldn't approve of it here unless we had some crazy expensive oil water separator.

I will have to look into a dehumidifier

So where does the slope take the contaminated liquids? It would make more environmental sense if they said you had to have a drain with separator. But I guess that isn't a factor in the logic?

 

[Jlbc212]

A vehicle that has been driven out in the snow and ice most likely also has lots of residual salt on it. A warm garage accelerates the corrosive action of the salt. Tell your wife she needs to park her car outside. Good luck with that!

 

[Showkey]

But wouldn't running a dehumidifier warm up the garage? The one I remember having when I was a kid put warm air out the front.

They are neutral as far as heat..........evaporator coil is cold and condenser coil hot. Low temp dehumidifiers have heater coil or defrost cycle to stop freezing the cold coil.

 

[ItsNemo]

A vehicle that has been driven out in the snow and ice most likely also has lots of residual salt on it. A warm garage accelerates the corrosive action of the salt. Tell your wife she needs to park her car outside. Good luck with that!

I hate this argument that you should just leave a vehicle outside...how about all the time my vehicle stays dry inside instead of getting ice/snow covered? How about measuring the time the vehicle is in contact with moisture, inside it will dry up faster than outside, so spends less time with moisture in contact with the body?

Has anyone definitively proven that the vehicle does actually rust faster when kept in a garage but driven in the winter? That's not to speak of the wear of being outside in the sun and ice...my wiper blades last easily 2-3 times longer on my garage kept vehicle than my vehicle stored outdoors for instance.

 

[hangfirew8]

New parts on my outside parked pickup rust much faster than anything on my two garage parked cars. So I don't buy it.

-HF

 

[johnnyradiant]

.....my wiper blades last easily 2-3 times longer on my garage kept vehicle than my vehicle stored outdoors for instance.

That's it. I can now go to work tomorrow armed with empirical data to backup my request for a garage at work instead of the open lot I have to park in.

 

[Jimdril]

When I had the plumber put a ventless heater in my garage, he told me I was making a mistake going ventless, but I wouldn't listen. A year later, I had him come back and put in a vented one, what a difference, no more rusted tools from humidity generated by that heater. Live and learn.

 

[ItsNemo]

That's it. I can now go to work tomorrow armed with empirical data to backup my request for a garage at work instead of the open lot I have to park in.

Just an example...I'm sure the interior, leather, plastic/rubber parts, etc. all are much happier being inside out of the elements too.

 

[bad_idea]

I do have a fan in the ceiling would you run it all the time or just when it snows or when I run the heat?

All winter long. The snow melt increases the issue, it is not the sole issue.

 

[joelowrider]

When I had the plumber put a ventless heater in my garage, he told me I was making a mistake going ventless, but I wouldn't listen. A year later, I had him come back and put in a vented one, what a difference, no more rusted tools from humidity generated by that heater. Live and learn.

Part of the sale to me of the ventless heater I have is it can also run with no power. I loose the fan but It will keep my house above freezing if it comes down to it and I leave the door to the house open.