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Workshop Dehumidifier
- Thread starter paris_tj
- Start date
stafford
Well-known member
When I first put mine in the shop it pulled moisture like crazy for 3 or 4 days, had to empty it all the time. then as it got the moisture pulled down and I keep the place closed up, it doesn't have to be emptied nearly as often. IT works wonders for me.
greenbank
Active member
The 50 pint unit seems to have died on me. I think it is seriously undersized for my shop, but the short service life is a bummer. Costco will be getting it back.
Not sure what to do, now. If I could even achieve 50% I'd be ecstatic, but when it's 100% outside (rain) it's at least 75% inside on the cold side. Thinking about a huge industrial unit, used.
Also just about added a third to our electricity usage, I think.
Part of my problem is my building is air-leaky. I don't get water intrusion, but it's far from anything resembling air-tight. I'll replace the various door seals this summer and caulk where I can. I assume this will help?
Not sure what to do, now. If I could even achieve 50% I'd be ecstatic, but when it's 100% outside (rain) it's at least 75% inside on the cold side. Thinking about a huge industrial unit, used.
Also just about added a third to our electricity usage, I think.
Part of my problem is my building is air-leaky. I don't get water intrusion, but it's far from anything resembling air-tight. I'll replace the various door seals this summer and caulk where I can. I assume this will help?
Grumpy365
Well-known member
Here is a post from the AC section from an application that was having ice in the winter, but it is pertinent here for those of you who want to understand what you are dealing with
Here the problem is the temp of the tools is less than the dew point of the air. So y'all are trying to bring the dew point of the room below the temp of the tools.
A air conditioner does a damn fine job of that. The ac bring the dew point down to the coil temp (not the room temp) and the excess moisture will run out of the drain. Plus an ac moves 2000 to 3000 cfm as opposed to the 325 cfm those little dehumidifiers y'all are looking at.
What you are fighting in a leaky building is VAPOR PRESSURE. Moist air is naturally going to infiltrate drier air. So you are fighting ambient humidity all the time.
You are using bad instrumentation. You don't have 100% RH.
To understand sweating, you have to understand relative humidity and dew point.
Dew point is a measurement of the actual moisture in the air. Dew point is not relative to the temperature.
Dew point is the temp moisture begins to condensate on a smooth surface.
You take the dew point and the temp to determine the relative humidity.
The temp of your door & places where the moisture is forming is under the dew point of the space.
So you have a 35degree dew point in your shop and your door is 20 degrees it is going to sweat.
The only 2 solutions are. 1. Heat up the door over the dew point OR. 2. Bring down the dew point in the space to below the temp of the door.
A common way to bring down dew point is to run an AC coil. The water condenses on the coil and runs out a drain & is therefore removed from the air. This is what keeps your house dry in the summer. When controlling humidity, it is common to cool the air down to the desired dew point and reheat it to be comftorable.
Your dew point is going to be to cold to do this. ^^^. (dew point cannot exceed the temp).
They make desiccant dehumidifeirs, but they are energy HOGs.
I know none of this info helps you fix your problem, but I hope this helps you understand what's going on anyway.
Here the problem is the temp of the tools is less than the dew point of the air. So y'all are trying to bring the dew point of the room below the temp of the tools.
A air conditioner does a damn fine job of that. The ac bring the dew point down to the coil temp (not the room temp) and the excess moisture will run out of the drain. Plus an ac moves 2000 to 3000 cfm as opposed to the 325 cfm those little dehumidifiers y'all are looking at.
What you are fighting in a leaky building is VAPOR PRESSURE. Moist air is naturally going to infiltrate drier air. So you are fighting ambient humidity all the time.
Last edited:
Grumpy365
Well-known member
To play around with dew point you can get a psychometric chart, but there are some really good calculators on line http://www.linric.com/psyc_1.htm (is a free downloadable program)
well I have had mine running for over a month now, and man is my shop so much nicer inside to work in. My Electric bill did go up $30 running it. It cuts on and off all the time. I have it set to 50% and it holds 48-51% all the time, even when it is 90+$ outside. I empty the container about once a day, to once every three days depending on conditions out side. At some point it will get plumbed in and I want have to do that any more.
dypen
Well-known member
Total climate controlled garages are need for storing antique cars and keeping machinery and tools from developing surface rust. All five of my garages have central forced air heating and air-conditioners. Neither will keep the humidity down to a consistent 40%. Particularly in changing weather conditions. So I run a 65 pint dehumidifier in each garage year round. They have a humidistat that will shut them off once the humidity is below the set point... I have mine mounted on shelves near the furnace... To eliminate dumping the reservoir all the time, I have the condensate connected directly to a drain...
Is there anything that affected negatively by placing dehumidifier next to the heat pump?
I want to place dehumidifier high on the wall next to the heat pump (air to air) in my garage with drainage hose out instead of emptying the tank 2 time every veek. Same as "OldCarGuy" has ...
Thinking something like this solution: How to Install a Dehumidifier