Problems with moisture/condensation in coach?

[Audrey & John]

Has anyone had problems with moisture accumulating in the coach? Do you take any steps to prevent it? Do you find you ever have to air out the coach or use damp-rid or a dehumidifier to get rid of excess moisture?
Do you find condensation on the windows in the bedroom from sleeping in there overnight?

Just wondering.... We want to be prepared and develop the right habits up front.

Well - I was reading about RVers dealing with mold in closets, etc., and I was curious if Alpine owners had run into such a thing.

Also, some fulltiming friends of ours have dual pane windows in their Bounder and they said moisture/condensation accumulates in their bedroom overnight so they use a small fan to air out their bedroom during the day.

Audrey

[Audrey & John]

Has anyone had problems with moisture accumulating in the coach? Do you take any steps to prevent it? Do you find you ever have to air out the coach or use damp-rid or a dehumidifier to get rid of excess moisture?
Do you find condensation on the windows in the bedroom from sleeping in there overnight?

Just wondering.... We want to be prepared and develop the right habits up front.

Well - I was reading about RVers dealing with mold in closets, etc., and I was curious if Alpine owners had run into such a thing.

Also, some fulltiming friends of ours have dual pane windows in their Bounder and they said moisture/condensation accumulates in their bedroom overnight so they use a small fan to air out their bedroom during the day.

Audrey

[TXiceman]

Yes, living in closed quarters in cold weather will cause condensation on the cold surfaces such as window frames and the like. The immediate thought is to keep everything closed up tight to keep the heat in and run the heater less. This the wrong thing to do.

This is not an Alpine only problem.

Breathing puts a lot of moisture in the air as does cooking and bathing. What you need to do is to be sure and crack open a window near the stove and run the vent fan when cooking. When bathing, we always, summer or winter, open the bathroom vent a bit while showering and as soon as you are completed, open the vent some more and run the fan on high for a short time. To help with the moisture problem, use a squeege to wipe down the shower and get rid of water that could evaporate.

When sleeping and it is damp, we will leave a roof vent cracked open a bit. The moist air from breathing is very warm and warm air will rise, so the vent will let it escape.

Sometimes we will crack open a window during the day and run a vent fan if we are having a lot of moisture problem. It is sort of trial and error method to get the right balance.
Ken

[Tom and Patty]

Audrey and John,
We had the same problem. In the San Jaoquin Valley it is very damp in the winter. We bought a MaxxAir Fan/Mate model 800 from Camping World. This way we can leave the kitchen vent open all the time and don't have to worry about rain getting in. We leave it open about 2-3 inches. When the sun warms the coach the air inside rises and the moisture escapes out the open vent.It has solved our condensation problems. We also run our bath Fantastic fan when showering, and wipe down the walls, well I (Tom) wipe down the walls. When we cook we also run the fan on low to remove the cooking moisture.
We looked at a Monaco to buy in Fresno before we purchased our Alpine. It had mold in the corners of all the cabinets and closets. I think it was closed up too tight during our damp winter.

[Audrey & John]

I'm glad to hear about the MaxxAir Fan/Mate. We put the same thing on our little Casita so that we could leave the fantastic fan open all the time. It really helped dry the trailer out during the day - and two humans sleeping in a tiny trailer with single pane windows really guarantees windows and trim covered with moisture every morning. Oh it was cold damp weather of course. Just hopeless to see out under these conditions.

I look forward to being able to see out of the windows in the Alpine in the morning. That almost never happened in the Casita since all the windows were around the sleeping area.

Audrey

......mold and mildue will stop a house sale in a secondlike "right now" and require a home owner to have the house cleaned by professionals[big bucks]......just think what it will do to a trailer or motorhome sale?.....keep it dry at any cost if you want to sell it and for your own health make sure there is NO mildew or Molds that have not been treated with bleach[use swimming pool shock at about 10% strength]....geof kaye