Dehumidifiers in garages, talk to me

[edo]

Ok, due to the way our garage is built into a hillside, the back wall gets slightly damp.

The garage has pretty good circulation, but I'd like to get a dehumidifier so the impending TVR chassis has no excuse to disintegrate!

Anyone got one they recommend?

[BobTurner]

Have a look on the vertar website for ideas; get a dehumidifier which uses desicant rather than a cooling plate (as you would buy in B&Q etc as they ice up if it gets below about 5 degrees and don't work); one dehumidifier per modest size double garage should be alright- but perhaps you'll need more if you know you've got damp issues; you'll need power in the garage. Hope that helps.

[edo]

Thanks, useful info. Yes got power. Hope to get one with a pipe too so I don't have to worry about emptying it.

[BobTurner]

Having said that you might want to stop some/all of the ventilation- no point trying to dehumidify the outside world too; or beef up the ventilation and accept you're never going to dehumidify a hill...depends I suppose on how well sealed the garage is from the hill. Good luck with it.

[Golaboots]

Probably wouldn't bother to be honest. I had a similar problem with my garage (built into a bank of earth on two sides. Used to get condensation on anything metal.

I tanked the garage with some bitumen paint stuff, added some passive ventilation (weep vents) and fitted an extractor fan controlled by a humidistat. All works well and cost £50 tops.

I tried a dehumidifier and it seemed to fill up really quickly and not solve the problem.

[edo]

Thanks, good input, good ventilation may be just as useful.

[k-ink]

Leave an open bag of cement in the corner. It will soak up excess moisture in the air apparently.

[PumpkinSteve]

k-ink said:

Leave an open bag of cement in the corner. It will soak up excess moisture in the air apparently.

My parents did this, now their back garden is full of rock hard bags of cement

[edo]

PumpkinSteve said:

k-ink said:

Leave an open bag of cement in the corner. It will soak up excess moisture in the air apparently.

My parents did this, now their back garden is full of rock hard bags of cement

Lol, I just did that by accident in the shed!

[volturb40]

ECOAIR DD122FW SIMPLE Desiccant Dehumidifier

Had mine in the garage for 2 years no problems i just leave it on auto , drilled a small hole in the wall attached a pipe to auto drain, never have to worry about it, gives a bit of heat to the garage as well

[kambites]

As above, if you don't heat your garage avoid the plate type ones because they work by cooling the air to get it to dump its moisture, so firstly they're less effective as the temperature drops, and secondly if it's very cold they actually freeze up and stop working completely. If the garage never drops below about 5 degrees they're fine, though.

[k-ink]

edo said:

PumpkinSteve said:

k-ink said:

Leave an open bag of cement in the corner. It will soak up excess moisture in the air apparently.

My parents did this, now their back garden is full of rock hard bags of cement

Lol, I just did that by accident in the shed!

Hiring a skip once a year to clear the cement would be cheaper than running AC all year!

[AndrewW-G]

Or just buy big bags of cat litter from CostCo

Garage at home is heated and I've got a dehumidifier (£200 from Argos, with a pipe that dribbles water out through the wall) nothing fancy, but does the job