Dehumidifiers

Some people are pro dehumidifier some are anti, I have never seen any scientific proof either way, but for what it costs to buy five disposable units - about £3-£4 to maybe protect a £40k+ unit, why not, if it works you are on a winner, if not no harm done

We have had our motorhome nine years, its kept in storage, and isn't used in the winter months. We leave cupboard bathroom and fridge doors open and the external silver screen on. Its neither heated nor dehumifided. A couple of visits over the winter on really nice days to check and leave door open for half an hour. Touchwood no damp issues, its 14 years old now,I think an even temperature is the key if you're not using it. Not been able to motorhome in the winter and probably won't be able to.

The worst weather for damp in the mhome is when we have cold days followed by warmer days.

The mhome retains cold, rather like a refrigerator van, thanks to its insulation, So when the doors are opened a waft of warmer moist air is introduced and condensation can form on cold surfaces. Also on / in the foam of the seats and bedding.

we use the mhome may once or twice a month, and make sure    that we have a run that both fully warms the engine, and also has a good blow through of air, also running the air conditioning on warm.

Do have damp checks carried annually,  If you think the mhome feels, smells damp, you are probably correct. We have had leaks caused by badly fitted high level marker lights, roof bar mounts. That said, over twenty odd years we have had no other damp problems.  We used a 240v dehumidifier, but found that it was a wasted exercise.

Rgds

 If you run a dehumidifier in a C/van or M/home ,all you are doing in ingesting the ambient surrounding weather !! Yes it will fill the water resovoir of course ,but thats all from outside !! They are a misnomer !! .Adequate ventilation is preferable .

Cold or warm air is irrelevant, it's the moisture content of said air that is important.You can have damp cold air and dry warm air or dry cold air or damp warm air. What ever we do to alter the humidity content of the air itself in our vans will be pretty much ineffective. Just remove materials which may absorb and retain that moisture may be most effective action we can take.

 If you run a dehumidifier in a C/van or M/home ,all you are doing in ingesting the ambient surrounding weather !! Yes it will fill the water resovoir of course ,but thats all from outside !! They are a misnomer !! .Adequate ventilation is preferable .

How does a recirculating dehumidifier draw in air from the outside, granted there will be a natural airflow but surely it will be unaffected by the unit

We have had our M/H 4 years now so its done 4 Scottish winters, we don't heat or dehumidify it. In between trips it sits outside the house. We have fridge vents on once it drops to 10c and try and use the van at least evey 2-3 weeks, if we can't then we take it for a 20 mile drive. We do life the seating away from the sides and leave lockers open, curtains closed but not blinds.

Thanks All i really appreciate the comments. We leave the doors open etc when its a nice day and do pretty much what everyone says with doors open inside etc, so should be good. Its just newbie nerves i suppose.

 If you run a dehumidifier in a C/van or M/home ,all you are doing in ingesting the ambient surrounding weather !! Yes it will fill the water resovoir of course ,but thats all from outside !! They are a misnomer !! .Adequate ventilation is preferable .

How does a recirculating dehumidifier draw in air from the outside, granted there will be a natural airflow but surely it will be unaffected by the unit

it doesn't directly draw air in at all but vans are built with vents. They, the vans, are not sealed units therefore the moisture content of the air inside will naturally balance with that outside as it is free to enter. And so the moisture content is, as you say relatively unaffected by the unit.