On cool/cold nights when the trailer is closed-up we get a lot of condensation on the windows. One answer is to open a window or a vent, but that lets the heat out.
Our house has a device that brings cold, dry, outside air into the house, and blows warm, moist indoor air outside. It uses an air-to-air heat exchanger to transfer some of the heat energy from the outgoing air to warm up the incoming air. Does anyone know of a similar but much smaller 12 volt product for use in RV's? If not, is there a market for one?
Having the AC cooling on a cold night while the furnace is heating seems a bit wastefull, and noisy. In my trailer a single thermostat operates both the AC and furnace, can't run both simultaniously. Also, what if you are operating in the 12 volt world?
I couldn't find any ready-built, air-to-air exchangers with 12V fans that are smaller than 18" x 18" x 24".
What type furnace do you have? If you have a forced air system, you could add a bigger fresh air intake damper to draw in more fresh air, and immediately run it through the furnace. And add a small exhaust vent with a small muffin fan to get rid of part of the wet air.
Well, as I see it there are two options...stop breathing or deal with it....me I'm in the same boat as Dan and my choice was to live with it since I too can't have my A/C and furnace on at the same time...and Dan's right, it would be very noisy.
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
A glass of ice water, at a comfortable room temperature, will sweat on the outside of the glass.
Your Airstream trailer is the reverse. Cold outside, but warm inside. Therefore the windows will sweat on the inside.
Airstream attempted years ago to try and solve the problem with the double pane windows. Unfortunately, the double pane windows caused more problems than they solved and were discontinued.
Camping usually means we cannot have all the comforts of home. So as silvertwinkie said, "live with it", or "without it", as the case may be.
But you certainly can add it to one of the reasons why some wives won't go camping in the cold winter months. So guys, you will have to love with that, too.
We camp in some moderately cold weather - down to 30 or so, and find that leaving the bathroom vent cracked just open keeps condensation to a minimum without allowing too much warm air to escape. Of course, our coach is just 25', and there are only the two of us.
If you buy some of those little dessicant sachets, they will keep the humidity down and reduce frosting of the windows. As a side benefit, as the dessicant absorbs water, they give off heat.
According to my calculations, you would need about 45,600 packets to be effective. Might be a storage problem. So I guess we'll have to love with that too!
My other idea to reduce the amount of respired moisture is to breathe into a plastic garbage bag. Every fifteen minutes, you tie the bag and place it outside the front door. In the morning all of your respired moisture will have frozen into ice, so you can dump it and reuse the bags.
But you certainly can add it to one of the reasons why some wives won't go camping in the cold winter months. So guys, you will have to love with that, too.
Andy
I don't see that as a problem.
__________________
Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
Back to my original question... I am thinking about:
- Buy a spare air-to-air heat exchanger core
- Cut the core on a bandsaw into smaller cubes, about 4" X 4"
- Attach two 12V computer muffin fans to a cube (one for intake, one for exhaust)
- Plumb it to provide the air exchange (for a test I could leave a window open, make a cardboard filler to block the open window with openings for intake and exhaust)
- And see if/how it works!
The trailer has a volume of about 1500 cubic ft. Using 20 cfm fans, minus 50% due to resistance, would completely change the air every 2.5 hours. Some housing codes specify .35 air changes per hour, or about 3 hours - so we are in the ballpark! 60 - 80% of the heat energy from the outgoing air is transferred to the incoming air. Two fans at .2 amps would consume 3.2 amps of power over 8 hours. On paper this all seems reasonable...
Perhaps it's an exercise in futility, as no one on the list seems too concerned about the condensation in their trailers. But it will keep me out of the bars for a few days
But it will keep me out of the bars for a few days
LOL!!!
__________________
Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
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