Air circulation during short term storage

[Scott59]

I have a 2017 30' International Serenity and we live in Atlanta. During this time of year, summer, it's pretty hot and humid here. We find that we have the Airstream in storage about 1-2 weeks per month, sometimes it sits for 3 weeks. We store our AS at a rented boat and RV storage facility that provides covered storage. Since we don't have to worry about rain getting in and the weather in general I have decided to open the fantastic fan and leave a small fan running inside to keep air moving. I keep the AS plugged into shore power with a 15amp extension cord that is plugged into a 15 amp circuit provided by the facility.
My question to the group is, am I doing the right thing here by keeping a vent open and a fan on during the hot humid summer months down here in Atlanta?
I started out this summer by keeping the AS closed and setting a small room de-humidifier inside to help draw moisture out of the air. It's one of those units that just sits there and absorbs water, then once it's absorbed it's limit you plug it in to dry it out and repeat the process.
I always stop and check on the AS about once per week so it's never alone for too long.
Just curious if anyone has had any issue's doing what I'm doing or if they know of a better way to leave the AS while it sit's and waits for our next adventure.
Thanks

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you want to go crazy (and have shore power), a "normal" basement dehumidifier is an option. I don't like the "hockey puck" gizmos much. They seem to exhaust pretty fast.

Air circulation is never a bad idea as long as water, critters and crazies don't gain access. Be a little careful about condensation under some conditions.(Humidity at 100% and the trailer is a bit colder than the air ....).

Bob

[Protagonist]

Living on the Gulf Coast in the New Orleans metro area, I deal with humid air as well when my Airstream is stored.

It's better to have air circulating— even humid air— than not.

For the same relative humidity, moving air deposits less condensation on colder surfaces than does still air.

If you really want to keep the Airstream well ventilated, try to get a minimum of 6 complete air changes per hour, up to about 15 air changes. Multiply the trailer's length, width, and height to obtain a "box" volume in cubic feet. Then divide by 10 to get the number of cfm (cubic feet per minute) that the fan needs to produce. For 15 air changes, same thing, except divide the box volume by 4 instead.

And remember, for each exhaust fan you have running, you need an equal or larger opening letting air in, preferably as far from the fan as possible.

[OTRA15]

I would consider plugging in one or two Dampp-Chasers inside the AS, as long as you have shore power. These are old-fashioned (pre-A/C) low-wattage units designed to minimize the humidity under pianos, and inside old musty closets.

https://www.amazon.com/Dampp-Chaser-...o+dehumidifier

We keep one under the bed, and another in the bath sink lower cabinet, during winter storage, and also during the summer when it also can be hot and humid here. Available in 2' and 3' lengths, they work great.

And yes, leaving a window or two cracked open, a ceiling vent open, and a small fan on inside are good ideas IMO.

Good luck!

Peter

[FishByFly]

I use DampRid. Two hanging bags in a 25'. Replace about every two to three weeks in the summer. Winter is like every other month.

[cazual6]

I'll chime in, and I hope I am doing the right myself. I live is LA.

I keep mine closed. I go inside every now and then to either grab something or put something back.

I use this DampRid on my Gun safe, maybe I'll put one inside as well.

[MelGoddard]

I keep both of my Maxx-airs open all the time, and in good weather, I may open a window.
Not sure if the Maxx-Airs open alone does anything useful, but I have a small 'Corfamo' fan running all the time. (AS is plugged into the house.)

I'm not sure where 'make-up' air comes in, if it does, but perhaps what I'm doing is satisfactory.

[A W Warn]

I've tried all closed up, got mildew. I've tried power venting, gets a little dirty. I've tried the moisture absorption (DampRid), works ok. I've tried a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier is best.

I store my Excella in Florida year round, when we are not on the road with it. The first year I left it there with the electricity connected and the exhaust fan set to turn on ~ 80*F. Sometime during the summer it received damage (power off all summer) from lightning strike/power surge that also burned out the utilites and adjacent transformer. Setting there for months with the vent open it got some mildew on the wood cabinet surfaces. Since then it's closed up tight April through October with three pails of DampRid, one in each sink and one in the shower. That seems to work better than closed up tight or open vents. There is little musty smell when we arrive in late fall, but no mildew since using the DampRid.

When we are not traveling, my Safari is stored at home in NC year round with electric hookup. During spring summer and fall I leave the windows slightly open and a Fantastic fan set to exhaust at about 80*F. If we have a long period of rain and high humidity I use a dehumidifier, 30 pints per day size. During winter all systems are winterized, power is connected to keep the battery charged, one vent is open with the fan off. This seems to work well.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

I'm not sure where 'make-up' air comes in, if it does, but perhaps what I'm doing is satisfactory.

Airstreams aren't airtight, so air comes in from multiple small, even tiny, openings. But in order to get maximum efficiency out of your MaxxFans, the openings to let air in have to be as large or larger than the total opening size of the MaxxFans.

Not sure the exact diameter of the fan openings, but assuming two fans of 12" diameter, all you need is at least 226 square inches of opening to let air in, to get the maximum efficiency out of both fans. Sounds like a lot, but a single window that measures 15" square is 225 square inches in area.

If the inlet total size isn't at least as big as the outlet total size, then the MaxxFans are working more like ceiling fans, moving the air around without pushing it out. Side note— you can use a MaxxFan like a ceiling fan by running it with the vent closed.

[InterBlog]

Living in the greater Houston swamp-a-thon, I routinely open the Fantastic and all flap windows on our rig, but I don't try to actively de-humidify it. Our fully-enclosed storage unit will "breathe" throughout the daily temperature swing (from about 76 to 95 degrees) and that alone is enough to generate sufficient air exchanges to prevent mildew, in my experience.

Running a dehumidifier unmonitored is a worrisome possibility that I hadn't considered. First of all, the water has to be properly managed, and given my recent experience with the untimely loss of our whole-house a/c and temporary substitution of a free-standing portable unit in our bedroom, it would not surprise me if such a device pulled up to a gallon of water per day out of the air. What happens if something goes wrong with the internal pan or line and the drainage backs up, and nobody is around to catch it?

I also worry about consumer-grade units seizing and perhaps overheating due to low-ended construction quality. Perhaps I'm being overly cautious, but I don't like leaving mechanical devices operating when I'm not around to keep an eye on them.

[carl2591]

i beleive some units gravity drain just put drain in sink/shower. my friend has a consumer model; that runs in house and never had a problem in 5 yrs

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Living in the greater Houston swamp-a-thon, I routinely open the Fantastic and all flap windows on our rig, but I don't try to actively de-humidify it. Our fully-enclosed storage unit will "breathe" throughout the daily temperature swing (from about 76 to 95 degrees) and that alone is enough to generate sufficient air exchanges to prevent mildew, in my experience.

Running a dehumidifier unmonitored is a worrisome possibility that I hadn't considered. First of all, the water has to be properly managed, and given my recent experience with the untimely loss of our whole-house a/c and temporary substitution of a free-standing portable unit in our bedroom, it would not surprise me if such a device pulled up to a gallon of water per day out of the air. What happens if something goes wrong with the internal pan or line and the drainage backs up, and nobody is around to catch it?

I also worry about consumer-grade units seizing and perhaps overheating due to low-ended construction quality. Perhaps I'm being overly cautious, but I don't like leaving mechanical devices operating when I'm not around to keep an eye on them.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Airstreams aren't airtight, so air comes in from multiple small, even tiny, openings. But in order to get maximum efficiency out of your MaxxFans, the openings to let air in have to be as large or larger than the total opening size of the MaxxFans.

Not sure the exact diameter of the fan openings, but assuming two fans of 12" diameter, all you need is at least 226 square inches of opening to let air in, to get the maximum efficiency out of both fans. Sounds like a lot, but a single window that measures 15" square is 225 square inches in area.

If the inlet total size isn't at least as big as the outlet total size, then the MaxxFans are working more like ceiling fans, moving the air around without pushing it out. Side note— you can use a MaxxFan like a ceiling fan by running it with the vent closed.

Normally I don't have the fans on, unless I'm inside or close by.
The MAXX-AIR vents are open all the time, and since South-Western Ontario is windy most of the time, I just let Mother Nature move the air.
If we have a power failure, (rare) then the fans will deplete the batteries in due time.
Don't want that.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you run a compressor based dehumidifier, close up the trailer. It will get the inside down to the set point fairly quickly and then run very rarely to keep it there. As mentioned above, put it in the shower (drain open) and leave the gray water drain slightly open. Just like the rest of the AC systems, you will get a puddle outside the trailer.

Bob

[SCOTTinNJ]

Close it up and run this.

https://www.eva-dry.com/dehumidifier...e-dehumidifier

[accordionman]

I a new RVer as most of you know. My coach is stored in a building in FL, so it's covered and out of the sun, but Florida is a humid and very hot place. I bought a small electric fan which i keep on 24/7. it is on the counter next to the stove. I have opened the window in front of the fan and opened also the vent in the shower ( but no fan powered there). I feel that gives the air an "in" and an "out" and keeps it moving. Some of the equipment suggestions in prior posts on this thread seem pretty interesting and probably very good. I've only had my coach for a month or so, so I'm no expert. I have been taking the trip (40 min) to visit my coach quite often of late for some battery issues and the small fan seems to keep the coach quite comfortable.

[majorairhead]

89+
87*ax/-12-

[thewarden]

I use a couple of these inside the trailer and they work great at keeping the dampness down.
http://www.drizair.com/faqs.html

[majorairhead]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

89+
87*ax/-12-

I don't have a clue what the sam hill this is