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Heater or dehumidifier for my garage?


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I really, genuinely am not trying to be difficult or stupid, but ………………………..

 

I have just gone into the back yard and the humidity meter shows 59% …. it also shows 59% in the garage …………. but in the ground floor of my house it shows 64% and in the unoccupied bedroom/landing area on the first floor it shows 69%

 

So I wouldn't even think of dampness issues if I stored the layout in my living room but that seems to be more humid than outside in the yard - I am totally confused. Yes, my wife and I have been sitting in the living room  this evening but upstairs it's even more humid.

 

It confuses me too. I have 3 hygrometers and just checked them. Here in the lounge it is 18.6C and 35%. The conservatory is 7.9C and 69%, the railway shed with dehumidifier and frost protection fan heater is 10C and 49%, the local weather forecast has it 0C and 89%. The relative humidity can vary a lot with temperature change. Maybe your garage has so many drafts the air in there is essentially the same as the air outside?

 

edit - I just breathed on the lounge meter 3 times and it jumped to 36% and went back to 35% a minute later

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Again please excuse my ignorance/confusion/stupidity ...........................

 

My point is that I only ever considered humidity a problem because the layout will store in an outside garage, I would never even thought there could be an issue if I could store the layout inside my lounge (for example).

 

But my readings seem to imply that a 'normal' house can be just as humid if not more humid than outside. 

 

I checked again at 8am and the garage and outside in the open backyard were both at 67% and inside the house was 75% and so based on these  readings the layout would be better off in the backyard under a roof just to keep the rain off that sitting in my lounge.

 

Again I can only ask (yet again) - am I missing something (like a brain?) ? I am genuinely confused

 

 

If solving damp issues was easy, then damp would not be the issue it is.

 

If the garage is to be used to store the layout, I would perhaps focus on building a damp proof box to store the layout in

 

Hello again John

 

The layout basically fills an XLwheelbase transit van so that would be nearly as big as the garage

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 I suggested building a box thinking it would be an easier and cheaper, but if the size of the layout is as big as the garage then somehow you need to waterproof and insulate all 6 sides, probably in a manor that you would use to make a habitable space. Which is basically what I did to my garage, perhaps including a moisture trap similar to those available for caravans (providing there is no constant flow of moist air) where as in my garage the room was in daily use with a heater on when in use

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Again please excuse my ignorance/confusion/stupidity ...........................

 

My point is that I only ever considered humidity a problem because the layout will store in an outside garage, I would never even thought there could be an issue if I could store the layout inside my lounge (for example).

 

But my readings seem to imply that a 'normal' house can be just as humid if not more humid than outside. 

 

I checked again at 8am and the garage and outside in the open backyard were both at 67% and inside the house was 75% and so based on these  readings the layout would be better off in the backyard under a roof just to keep the rain off that sitting in my lounge.

 

Again I can only ask (yet again) - am I missing something (like a brain?) ? I am genuinely confused

 

To answer your question I would not worry too much at those readings, you're right in that it's less humid than your house, you do appear to have a rather humid house. Currently here it's 95% outside, 50% inside (upstairs) and 64% in the garage, which is insulated, and has had the heater on much of the day, having been 5 degrees and 79% this morning when I went in, I've not had the dehumidifier on today as it's drying washing in the house! I'm actually surprised the humidity has dropped as much as it has.

 

It has been extremely dry lately, so I'd be inclined to check again after a lot of rainfall when the air is more damp. At the moment it seems your garage is tracking the exterior humidity quite closely, as you'd expect with an uninsulated garage. If you regularly get > 90% you'll have issues.

Edited by njee20
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Again please excuse my ignorance/confusion/stupidity ...........................

 

My point is that I only ever considered humidity a problem because the layout will store in an outside garage, I would never even thought there could be an issue if I could store the layout inside my lounge (for example).

 

But my readings seem to imply that a 'normal' house can be just as humid if not more humid than outside. 

 

I checked again at 8am and the garage and outside in the open backyard were both at 67% and inside the house was 75% and so based on these  readings the layout would be better off in the backyard under a roof just to keep the rain off that sitting in my lounge.

 

Again I can only ask (yet again) - am I missing something (like a brain?) ? I am genuinely confused

 

 

 

Hello again John

 

The layout basically fills an XLwheelbase transit van so that would be nearly as big as the garage

 

To oversimplify, what you are missing is the fact that warm air is moist, as all air must be or we would all dry out and shrivel up in pretty short order, but as all the surrounding surfaces indoors are at a comparitively equal temperature then condensation does not occur, although if you look hard enough you'll find some in most rooms.

Try boiling a kettle in the living room and see what happens, you'd be surprised!

 

Mike.

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