Keeping damp at bay in the winter?

To help keep damp at bay, over the winter I'm putting a dehumidifier into the Symphony once a week. I'm unsure whether to close all the cab air vents, what does everyone else do?

I go to Spain!!!

If there is any way outside air can get inside, then you will be trying to dry out the universe.

shelldrake wrote:I go to Spain!!!

Hmm. THink I'll try that at some stage

I think I have convinced SWMBO to go to Spain before Christmas. I do fancy sitting on a beach with a glass of wine on Christmas Day.

Hi there,

I agree with:

1) Go to Spain. (On our way in eight days time!), and,

2) Dehumidifiers may try to dry out the Universe.

Back in 2006 my brother bought two de-humidifiers to dry out our Mum's house. After running both of them for nearly a year without improving the damp and the mould growing in one corner of the living room he went up into the attic; where he discovered a leak on the main water tank that was soaking all of the insulation.

My advice (apart from going to Spain) is to keep the MH well ventilated, stick on a fan-heater for a few hours every week and if you are worried about the upholstery getting damp take it into the house and keep it somewhere warm and dry.

Best regards,

We also agree with the Spain "problem solver". I would think it wouldn't take many more of us and we would be able to hire a ferry between us. If you do count us in!

We use a dehumidifier (deh) in doors, and a lot of what you do depends on the wheather.

The colder the wheather the less effective the deh is. So you may have to induce some heat into the van, in this situation I would close all ventilation in the van.

On very damp misty/foggy days but not that cold, I have seen the inside of our van starting to get damp with droplets of water in some places. If you know the sun is coming out later this will normally "dry" and restore the moisture to an acceptable level. If you end up with the damp/mist/fog all day and into the night a deh will help, but I would close all ventilation.

If you get all the above and the temp. starts to drop below freezing you will have to provide some heat to help the deh work effectively. You would need to check the deh being used, but most deh will not work effectively below about 3/5 deg c. Some deh have an automatic defrost function (deh work like a fridge but in reverse, damp air blown over cold pipes causes condensation which is normally collected in an onboard tank, although many can be connected to a permanent drain) which heats the pipes where the water has condensed, but which is now frozen due to the cold.

I have only had a few days where I have been concernd about possible damp and actually felt that some action was needed. But when we spoke to some friends about this last year we were surprised at how many put some form of heating in there van for quite long periods. We have never felt the need to do this, but some people obviously do! We wouldn't be with out our deh, bit we do live in a "park home", and thats mainly because we cook/wash etc in here which puts a lot of moisture in the air, and you need to remember that even with all our "enforced" ventilation, on days with no wind, there is insufficient are movement to eliminate the condensation.

I would moniter the situation in your van and then take approp. action as needed, better still if you could borrow one to try! We returned 3 last year to B&Q as they had no humidistat fitted (turns the deh on & of depending on the moisture level in the air) hint,hint, but we did clarify the ability to return before purchase.

Sorry for the long answer!

fluffles