Garage dehumidifier. Reccomdations please!

[knitware]

Hello, I need a garage dehumidifier to stop mold groath on bike gear. Could anyone recommend a type and size? It's a double garage with apex roof? Thank you!

[bimsb6]

How about some of those bags that you sick the air out of for storing pillows and quilts in if you must store stuff in a garage personally i wouldn’t, not just for damp but rodents as well.

[Tonberry]

Sufficient ventilation is usually enough to keep mold at bay, but if not, a '70 pint' dehumidifier will do the job. The 70 pint rating refers to how much moisture they can remove from the atmosphere in any 24 hour period.

You can find several dehumidifier reviews online: https://letsremovemold.com/the-best-70-pint-dehumi...

[Borla]

Make sure you get a dessicant one, as the normal evaporative ones don't work very well in low temperatures.

This one

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/meaco_8l_desicc...

always seems to get good reviews (I'm not connected in any way with website or manufacturer).

Edited by Borla on Saturday 8th December 19:45

[james7]

I got an Ebac one a year or so ago and it works a treat, turns itself on and off as needed. It has a built in container for the water, but can also work with a permanent drain pipe.
I phoned them to ask which one would be most suitable, but i think there is a bit of info on their website to help decide.

[knitware]

james7 said:

I got an Ebac one a year or so ago and it works a treat, turns itself on and off as needed. It has a built in container for the water, but can also work with a permanent drain pipe.
I phoned them to ask which one would be most suitable, but i think there is a bit of info on their website to help decide.

Thank's chaps. I went into the garage a few day's ago and there was a fair bit of condensation on the motorcycle, and today I could see mold growth on my jacket collar, I'm hoping the above recommendation will sort this out. I'll seal the bottom of the garage doors too, there's a bit of a gap.

[andySC]

My garage can get quite damp over the winter months. My bike it stored in a VacBag. It’s essentially a huge polythene bag, you wheel the bike in, attach the vacuum cleaner & suck the air out and seal it up. It comes with a big bag of desiccant crystals & a basic humidity tester.

It’s a bit of a faff getting the bike in but mine won’t see daylight until spring. I’ve connected the Optimate to keep it changed & sealed around the bottom of the bag where the ground anchor pokes through. It’s holding steady at 46% humidity in the bag.

[ruaricoles]

I’ve had a ruby dry one for a few years and very happy with it (desiccant type rather than compressor which means efficiency doesn’t drop off in lower temps)

As per the one mentioned above you can connect a drain pipe to it or just empty the tank when required. It’ll dry my car overnight if I put it in the garage while wet (double garage but well sealed), and you can set a max humidity level and leave it on the whole time if you like

[james7]

knitware said:

Thank's chaps. I went into the garage a few day's ago and there was a fair bit of condensation on the motorcycle, and today I could see mold growth on my jacket collar, I'm hoping the above recommendation will sort this out. I'll seal the bottom of the garage doors too, there's a bit of a gap.

I used to have water dripping off the corugated metal roof, cardboard boxes going soggy, stuff going rusty etc
But since i got it no problems at all. I have had bits of bare metal sitting for months and no rust.

I cant recall where i read it but some classic car website probably. But rust only forms at certain humidity levels, but not below. However if the humidity is too low its meant to be bad for leather, rubber and fabric etc so its worth checking this rather than turning it up full and forgetting about it, which is what i was going to do......

[MR2 Steve]

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p_dd122fw-class...

I've got two of these. It works well but i'd try and connect a pipe drain otherwise you'll end up emptying it daily.

Next time i would probably get a bigger unit mounted up on the wall with an external drain.

[knitware]

I bought a Meaco DD8L Zambezi Dehumidifier - https://www.meaco.com/dehumidifier/home-dehumidifi...

It was quite expensive but compared to the cost of the stuff I want to keep in good condition it's insignificant.

I have it switched on with a drain to outside. When first on the r humidity was 69%, I've programmed it to achieve a constant 50%. I'll post back findings!

[Skyedriver]

Being a garage, are you not trying to dehumidify the universe, or is the garage totally sealed?

[kuro]

knitware said:

james7 said:

I got an Ebac one a year or so ago and it works a treat, turns itself on and off as needed. It has a built in container for the water, but can also work with a permanent drain pipe.
I phoned them to ask which one would be most suitable, but i think there is a bit of info on their website to help decide.

Thank's chaps. I went into the garage a few day's ago and there was a fair bit of condensation on the motorcycle, and today I could see mold growth on my jacket collar, I'm hoping the above recommendation will sort this out. I'll seal the bottom of the garage doors too, there's a bit of a gap.

I've been getting a lot of damp in my garage with condensation forming on the cars. I put it down to the soggy weather we've been getting but then read about airflow on another post. I had blocked up gaps at the bottom of the doors with strips of carpet. Removed these and it seems to have cured the problem.

[Olivera]

kuro said:

I've been getting a lot of damp in my garage with condensation forming on the cars. I put it down to the soggy weather we've been getting but then read about airflow on another post. I had blocked up gaps at the bottom of the doors with strips of carpet. Removed these and it seems to have cured the problem.

Are you sure? In my experience unless you have a dehumidified, heated or very well insulated garage then you will always get condensation on humid but cold days.

[mike74]

Skyedriver said:

Being a garage, are you not trying to dehumidify the universe, or is the garage totally sealed?

This would be my thinking.

[swanny71]

Meaco DD8L.
Had one in my garage for 3 years now, still working well. It’ll cycle on/off as required and maintains a constant 60% rel humidity, runs maybe 10 mins an hour. Plumbed in so I don’t ever need to empty the reservoir.
Garage is well insulated and pretty airtight.

[227bhp]

mike74 said:

Skyedriver said:

Being a garage, are you not trying to dehumidify the universe, or is the garage totally sealed?

This would be my thinking.

Exactly, it's the same for every dehumidifier thread too. People don't understand what the moisture content of air is and that we live in a damp country. It's akin to leaving the freezer door open on a hot Summers day to cool the house down.
I believe King Canute had a dehumidifier in his garage too.

[MG-FIDO]

227bhp said:

Exactly, it's the same for every dehumidifier thread too. People don't understand what the moisture content of air is and that we live in a damp country. It's akin to leaving the freezer door open on a hot Summers day to cool the house down.
I believe King Canute had a dehumidifier in his garage too.

It's not really though is it, assuming your house or garage is reasonably well sealed and you don't leave doors and windows open.

Using your freezer analogy you could argue that it's pointless having one of those for keeping food cold with people not understanding the background temperature in our relatively warm country. However most people do have a freezer, they tend to keep the door closed and they accept that the compressor has to run now and then to keep the temperature down.

[wilksy61]

This is the unit I have in my garage, which is fully insulated, heated and (almost) airtight bought with the optional shelf unit and plumbed to the outside, set at 7 on the dial which gives me a humidity of between 50 & 55%.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/1013700/ebac-...

And in situ

[NotNormal]

swanny71 said:

Meaco DD8L.
Had one in my garage for 3 years now, still working well. It’ll cycle on/off as required and maintains a constant 60% rel humidity, runs maybe 10 mins an hour. Plumbed in so I don’t ever need to empty the reservoir.
Garage is well insulated and pretty airtight.

Same here too. Garage is pretty much sealed, been running on the low setting for about 3 years and RH sits around 50-56%. I can leave bare metal exposed when working on projects and no rust forms at all. Plumbed into an external drain and other than hoovering the inlet filter etc. every couple of months its hassle free and works in and out as it pleases. Really great decision to install and couldn't be happier with it.