Dehumidifier - Any Preferences?

[Usachris]

Is anyone using dehumidifiers in their rig while on the road or in storage? If so, can you share info on the model you use and what prompted you to pick that particular dehumidifier.

Thanks!

[saddlesore]

Bought a 35 pint with drain hose @ Sears, Set on the counter by the sink...plug it in and run hose to galley sink.. Use both for during storage (coach plugged in and heat on, and when camping in high humidity areas..

[docj]

We have keep one of these Frigidaire units in the MH and have another in our casita in south TX. They were chosen because they are relatively small in size and were fairly inexpensive.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FWIW Frigidaire offers an inexpensive extended warranty which seemed advisable after reading reviews on Amazon. So far, the older of our two units is ~2 years old and no problems have been experienced. The one in the MH we manually empty every day or two; the other is plumbed to direct water outside the casita.

[brandss]

This is a small table top unit that we have mid coach and can't believe how well it works. I've read from others that it works well for them also.

[docj]

Originally Posted by brandss

This is a small table top unit that we have mid coach and can't believe how well it works. I've read from others that it works well for them also.

No offense, but those devices don't provide any specifications as to how many pints per day of water they can remove from the air. Sure, they are dehumidifiers but how do they compare to the 30 pint per day capacity of a refrigeration-based unit? All the website material is about how quiet they are.

I suspect they omit the capacity because it's a lot less. All I can say is that the ~one gallon bucket of ours can fill itself in less than a day.

[brandss]

No offense taken at all, we are total newbies and don't know much about anything. We take more from this forum than we give for sure. Hopefully it changes after a while.

The only way I know if we have moisture inside the coach, again newbie, is whether we have moisture on the windows. Seems I read that is the easiest and first place for moisture to show is on the windows.

We are full timing in Frankfort, KY where the weather has been roughly 32 high and 23 low. With this little unit we haven't seen any moisture, anywhere. Open to learn more for sure.

[NLOVNIT]

We've got the same dehumidifier as brandss has & it does very well. Ours is only used from approx Apr-Nov.

I don't have the room for a 35 pound/2ft tall/30 pint dehumidifier. For those of you who do, that's great. What I have room for is a 1 pound/11 inch tall dehumidifier that sits on the counter. I'm seriously considering doing the mods to attach a small hose to the reservoir (as I've seen done in Amazon reviews) so I don't have to empty the bucket. If I do that, I'll be able to just run the hose into the kitchen sink.

Lori

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by docj

All I can say is that the ~one gallon bucket of ours can fill itself in less than a day.

Yup, that's why I went with one that has a drain hose also I leave the ceiling fan in the bedroom running, just to circulate the air a bit.
115 gal gray tank, don't think I have to worry about over filing it...at least for a few months that is..

[docj]

Originally Posted by brandss

The only way I know if we have moisture inside the coach, again newbie, is whether we have moisture on the windows. Seems I read that is the easiest and first place for moisture to show is on the windows.

If you're in a colder environment you may see condensation on the windows unless you have dual pane windows, as we have, and then you rarely see it. However, we spend the winters in coastal south TX where the humidity level is often 60-80 percent even in winter so there's plenty of humidity in the air whether you see it or not! RVs, even good ones, leak a lot of air compared to a well-built house, especially through the windows. Furthermore, the small volume of air in an RV, relative to a house, means that a large percentage of the air gets exchanged every time you open the door or turn on one of the exhaust fans.

Having a dehumidifier can be a benefit in both the heating and cooling seasons. As already noted, during the heating season it prevents condensation on windows and walls. But in hot, humid weather having one can be even more helpful by taking a huge load off your air conditioners.

Most people don't realize that condensing water out of the air releases a significant amount of heat, the so-called heat of vaporization. When an air conditioner acts on hot humid air it has to cool the air but as it does some of the water vapor in the air condenses releasing heat. This heat then "negates" some of the effectiveness of the A/C. That's why it is so difficult to create a comfortable indoor environment on hot, humid days. Having a dehumidifier running supplements the A/C by separating the dehumidification and cooling functions. This is often found in cooling systems for commercial buildings. The result is a pleasantly cool interior without it being cold and dank which is often the result of having to turn the A/C way down to control the humidity.

The ability to perform these functions effectively is a function of the capacity of the device. Because of space limitations we purchased one of the smallest refrigeration-based dehumidifiers we could find. We just came out of a rather rainy few days here in south TX and the device has managed to fill its bucket once a day. Contrary to what was implied in another post, there's no risk of it overflowing; there's a shutoff that prevents that. In our casita next door I plumbed the output of the dehumidifier through the wall so it doesn't need to be drained. That's useful when we're away traveling in the summer. In the MH I don't find it a nuisance to empty the bucket when the light flashes telling me it is full.

Joel (AKA docj)

[gvette85]

Originally Posted by saddlesore

Bought a 35 pint with drain hose @ Sears, Set on the counter by the sink...plug it in and run hose to galley sink.. Use both for during storage (coach plugged in and heat on, and when camping in high humidity areas..

Did the same thing with a GE 30 pint from Home Depot,drains into the sink.I drain the gray tank once a week and usually drains 3 or 4 gallons.I set it on 45%,keeps the inside nice and dry and fresh.

[Pepper2]

Originally Posted by brandss

This is a small table top unit that we have mid coach and can't believe how well it works. I've read from others that it works well for them also.

We have a Ivation (similar to the one above). It works well when the temp. is in the 70+ area, not so well at lower temps.
I have been looking for a small compressor type dehumidifier.

[hardint]

We recently purchased the eva dry like pictured it works well in my windshield area as thats the window that sweats up in our bus. I bought two from Amazon warehouse one was defective out of box thus returned. If i had a spot for a 30 pint i would have one but they are usually a bit noisy.

[Xmcdog]

Originally Posted by saddlesore

Yup, that's why I went with one that has a drain hose also I leave the ceiling fan in the bedroom running, just to circulate the air a bit.
115 gal gray tank, don't think I have to worry about over filing it...at least for a few months that is..

Hummmmm
At 32 pints per day, and 115 gal tank. That looks like about 29 days. JMHO but I wouldn't get too complacent.

[DRM901]

Danby is an excellent brand. You can even get one with a built in pump to empty the tank up into a sink, etc. Or you can hook up a hose and run it out the back, assuming you are going downhill.

We've used a few brands, and this one has lasted the longest.