dehumidifyer in cabi - how long will water keep coming out??

[CraigVmax]

Hi all.

I have a small log cabin in my garden. Its double skinned with insulation inbetween the skins.

Its also raised up 50cm on stilts as I live by the river.

It stood empty and unused for a couple of months (and had a v slight leak, now fixed)

It was painted inside last week with about 3 coats of paint and I left it for 2 days then put a dehumdifyer in it. Doors closed and heated to about 20 degrees.

Its pulling out about a litre of water every day and has been for 3 days. is this normal? Will it subside? Any ideas?

[Road2Ruin]

A litre of water isn't much. How air tight is the cabin? If it is leaking a lot of air in then on a damp day the humidty of the outside air would be huge and one litre would be a small amount.

[CraigVmax]

ah ok, its fairly airtight i'd say, certainly no visible gaps and the windows are all double glazed but Im sure always ways for air to get through that i cant see.

I'm not especially worried and it doesnt seem damp it just seemed a lot of water to me so i didnt want things I put in there to get damp. Thx v much

[Simpo Two]

Unless the thing it totally watertight you're setting up a kind of diffusion gradient - a humidity gradient in fact - between inside and out, just like a freezer is colder than the room it's in but if you turn it off it will warm up because heat seeps in. The drier you make the inside, the greater will be the diffusing force inwards. So you're trying to dehumidfiy the world, which may take some time! What you are achieving however, is a lower level of humidity inside than out.

[CraigVmax]

ha so I should reach a point where i'm happy its dry enough then just keep warmish and top up every once in a while i guess?

[MOTORVATOR]

Simpo Two said:

So you're trying to dehumidfiy the world, which may take some time!

This man needs to be over on the climate change thread. With his input I reckon we could reduce the need for fossil fuel taxes.

[JM]

CraigVmax said:

ha so I should reach a point where i'm happy its dry enough then just keep warmish and top up every once in a while i guess?

Has it got a humidistat?

For something like a shed, at a guess I'd say 70% RH should be acceptable, and shouldn't result in the unit running constantly.

[CraigVmax]

erm no I dont think it does