Smaller dehumidifier

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

I do not find the heat to be a significant contributor to a/c performance, and I only have a single 13.5btu penguin. One needs to realize that air conditioning dry air makes for increased a/c performance. It takes a lot of btu to convert water vapor to liquid water. Is it a push compared with the heat given off by the dehumidifier? I don't know, but anecdotally, I believe I get better cooling with a/c + dehumidifier.

Good point; your only using a 13.5 AC with that 30'? Do you ever travel down into humid areas? I had a single AC in our first 25' Safari...after 2 summers in TX and Florida areas, I had to get one with 2 AC's...Didn't appreciate the difference the second AC made...then add the dehumidifier...and would not travel without the dehumidifier again! Forgot our GE dehumidifier last year when we went down to South Padre for a week in October...we were so miserable the first night, I went to Home Depot and purchased another for our trip; used it 4 days and then returned it to HD when I got back up to Austin. It's amazing how important that dehumidifier became after I finally got one! The AC likely is cooler as you mention.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Good point; your only using a 13.5 AC with that 30'? Do you ever travel down into humid areas? I had a single AC in our first 25' Safari...after 2 summers in TX and Florida areas, I had to get one with 2 AC's...Didn't appreciate the difference the second AC made...then add the dehumidifier...and would not travel without the dehumidifier again! Forgot our GE dehumidifier last year when we went down to South Padre for a week in October...we were so miserable the first night, I went to Home Depot and purchased another for our trip; used it 4 days and then returned it to HD when I got back up to Austin. It's amazing how important that dehumidifier became after I finally got one! The AC likely is cooler as you mention.

We used to travel to humid and hot areas in summer, as that was our common free time. My wife was a teacher. Since retirement, south in winter, north in summer. Too hot? Drive 300 miles north. Too cold? Drive 300 miles south.

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Drying towels as some have posted, is not a reason to have one of these units; it's comfort. Also, they do fill with water and can require empty couple times a day/night if you only have small reservoir. We have the 22pint model GE as I mentioned, but I have had to empty middle of the night few times....most everytime we use it, it is full in the morning. So small reservoir like the Ivation mentioned has is not ideal. Neither is noise. So hot air, noise, small reservoir, and size/weight are the main issues IMHO....anyone find something that is ideal without spending $300+?

I didn't see anyone say that drying towels was a reason to get a dehumidifier. Someone did mention that smartly positioning any dehumidifier might enhance drying.

Comfort is not the only reason to own a dehumidifier. It might be that way for those who camp in extreme hot and humid conditions. However, we own a dehumidifier to control condensation inside the trailer during the fall, winter, and spring camping season.

The trade-offs among the various dehumidifiers (in no particular order) are 1) Condensation mitigation, 2) AC efficiency, 3) Comfort, 4) Footprint, 5) Weight, 6) Heat/Cool output, 7) Reservoir size, 8) Loudness. For some folks, comfort and AC efficiency are paramount. For others, it's condensation mitigation and footprint. It depends on your style of camping. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The perfect dehumidifier for everyone pumps out cool air in the summer but warm air in the winter, has a large reservoir, is virtually silent, pulls 30 pints of water a day, has a footprint of about 8"x8", and stands about 15 inches tall. While I'm wishing I might as well ask Santa to bring me one that is built-in with no reservoir but drips to the outside through a heated hose and integrates with my Victron Cerbo.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Fungus

I didn't see anyone say that drying towels was a reason to get a dehumidifier. Someone did mention that smartly positioning any dehumidifier might enhance drying.

Comfort is not the only reason to own a dehumidifier. It might be that way for those who camp in extreme hot and humid conditions. However, we own a dehumidifier to control condensation inside the trailer during the fall, winter, and spring camping season.

The trade-offs among the various dehumidifiers (in no particular order) are 1) Condensation mitigation, 2) AC efficiency, 3) Comfort, 4) Footprint, 5) Weight, 6) Heat/Cool output, 7) Reservoir size, 8) Loudness. For some folks, comfort and AC efficiency are paramount. For others, it's condensation mitigation and footprint. It depends on your style of camping. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The perfect dehumidifier for everyone pumps out cool air in the summer but warm air in the winter, has a large reservoir, is virtually silent, pulls 30 pints of water a day, has a footprint of about 8"x8", and stands about 15 inches tall. While I'm wishing I might as well ask Santa to bring me one that is built-in with no reservoir but drips to the outside through a heated hose and integrates with my Victron Cerbo.

Ya think??

[CareyJ]

This is the one we purchased. Haven’t used it yet but it’s very diminutive and the reviews are very good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09GV3WKWB?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by CareyJ

This is the one we purchased. Haven’t used it yet but it’s very diminutive and the reviews are very good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09GV...b_b_asin_title

Aaaaaa, may be a "bit" small? 4.5cups/ 2.5 pints of water (1000ml)?? In your AS, you would likely be emptying quite a bit...depending on where your camped, but I know my GE holds 22pints and it can fill in 6 hours in Florida or Texas. (good price though!)

[Tyler2you]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Aaaaaa, may be a "bit" small? 4.5cups/ 2.5 pints of water (1000ml)?? In your AS, you would likely be emptying quite a bit...depending on where your camped, but I know my GE holds 22pints and it can fill in 6 hours in Florida or Texas. (good price though!)

Yep, it says it can pull 450 ML (just under 2 cups) a day out of the air--at 86 F.

Once you're down in the upper 60s/low 70s, you'll be lucky to get a cup a day out of that unit

Just about all of the small compressor style units don't perform well in cooler temps.

[TRIPPPIN]

Originally Posted by CareyJ

This is the one we purchased. Haven’t used it yet but it’s very diminutive and the reviews are very good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09GV...b_b_asin_title

Please post your findings when you have a chance to use it.

[Thiss]

Originally Posted by Fungus

Your comment got me thinking.

There is a considerable amount of space under our lounge. The problem is the intermittent drip during the winter temperatures that we need the dehumidifier. I’d want it to drip externally through a tube like a low point valve but with the intermittent drip I’m concerned about freezing. Is it’s proximity to the furnace enough to prevent freezing?

I amend my idea. Drain it into the gray water tank. Freezing problem solved.

First night in our ‘23 FC and we got a lot more condensation than we ever got in our ‘71. I really appreciate you all letting us know which units are a go and which are a bust

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Tyler2you

Yep, it says it can pull 450 ML (just under 2 cups) a day out of the air--at 86 F.

Once you're down in the upper 60s/low 70s, you'll be lucky to get a cup a day out of that unit

Just about all of the small compressor style units don't perform well in cooler temps.

You will find, the humidity varies irrespective of outside temps. We have camped here in TX without the humidifier and it can be very uncomfortable...85-90% humidity with temp at 72 outside. Inside with door open, its 77% with temp at 70 currently as an example. Good news is I can shut the sliding door and turn on the AC to cycle AC unit which also handles the humidity. Southern states (GA, FL, even NC/SC areas) it can be nice outside but extremely humid in the AS...In WY/MT, we don't have that issue, but in winter, we do with windows closed, so we do run the humidifier when traveling/camping in very cold temps so we don't have to deal with dripping inside on the walls and windows...ie, point of this thread.

[Tyler2you]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

You will find, the humidity varies irrespective of outside temps. We have camped here in TX without the humidifier and it can be very uncomfortable...85-90% humidity with temp at 72 outside. Inside with door open, its 77% with temp at 70 currently as an example. Good news is I can shut the sliding door and turn on the AC to cycle AC unit which also handles the humidity. Southern states (GA, FL, even NC/SC areas) it can be nice outside but extremely humid in the AS...In WY/MT, we don't have that issue, but in winter, we do with windows closed, so we do run the humidifier when traveling/camping in very cold temps so we don't have to deal with dripping inside on the walls and windows...ie, point of this thread.

Sorry I wasn't very clear--I was just pointing out that the small compressor units aren't very effective when the temps drop. They can only chill the evaporator down so far and when there isn't much of a differential between the air and the coils, you don't get much condensate dropping out.

[pcskier]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Aaaaaa, may be a "bit" small? 4.5cups/ 2.5 pints of water (1000ml)?? In your AS, you would likely be emptying quite a bit...depending on where your camped, but I know my GE holds 22pints and it can fill in 6 hours in Florida or Texas. (good price though!)

Your GE does not ‘hold’ 22 pints. The units are rated in ‘pints’ which is how many pints they remove from the air at a certain humidity and temperature over a specified amount of time. The unit you linked to earlier is actually a 20 pint rated unit, which has a tank capacity of 6.8 pints. Still greater capacity than the small one you were responding to, but I’m just pointing out for folks that the ‘rating’ for dehumidifiers is a much bigger number than the tank capacity. My ‘13 pint’ Ivation unit has a holding tank that is a couple quarts.

[BayouBiker]

I think an effective alternative to an additional piece of relatively complex dehumidifier more appropriately a "heat pump" along with the inherent inefficiencies of the small size, lower reliability and inconvenience of having to dispose of the collected water is to use both heat pumps if you have two or obtain a small portable heater and run it at its lowest output setting blowing at the trailers thermostat to cause the trailer's heat pump to chill the air and remove humidity at perhaps 30 times the rate of the small dehumidifiers.

This is what I do.

When outdoor temperatures are above 62 or so this method works well:

I have a hydrometer in the trailer and I just get out the little heater when the relative humidity rises above 65%. Then I fiddle with the heater controls to cause the combined system to maintain 45%-50% humidity.

If outdoor temperatures are between 45 and 65, more heat is needed so I either run one heat pump in heat mode and the other in cool mode or I get out my second portable heater and run one or both at the higher settings.

Under 45 I start using the furnace as needed to supplement the portable heaters. When humidity is high outside, heat pumps will ice up at 45 or lower so you have to discontinue use of heat mode. Even in low outside humidity (dew point lower than 15F) the heat pump will not be effective much below 35 degrees.

It is also not effective to cycle a single heat pump between heating and then cooling because when you switch to heat mode, it simply evaporates most of the previously condensed water returning it to the trailer. So you either need two units, one dedicated to cooling, the other to heating or you need to use a portable heater or furnace with the heat pump dedicated to cooling as previously described.

No shore power? Okay that would be a problem ....