Oh the humidity!

[MrJay]

Nights are drawing in and I'm reminded of all my winter projects that are normally plagued by shrinkage and warping and falling apart (not to mention the rust grrr!). Suggestions for controlling humidity in my garagey den please...

 

[big soft moose]

you need one of these http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10204/Hea ... fier-TC120

get an eco 7 box put in and use a time switch to run it in the early hours when power is cheap.

 

[wizer]

Wow that's a beast! I wouldn't want to devote space to that.

Is it really necessary? What about if your workshop has central heating?

I don't know, Extractors, Air Filters, Heaters, De-Humidifiers.... I just want to make stuff!! :roll: :wink:

 

[RogerS]

Word of caution....I've got a dehumidifier (although not the model listed above) and during last winter, it sucked water out of the air but sprang a leak and dumped the water all over the floor. On speaking to the manufacturer, was told that this happens if they are run below 7 deg C. No idea if this applies to all of them.

 

[MrJay]

My 'shop' is a single garage - single skinned brick wall, concrete floor, big metal door and pitched roof. A big elextric box is an option, but I'd prefer a passive solution - I was wondering about insulation, anyone had any success? There's a freezer running in the garage and I'm hoping that its waste heat could be enough to keep the garage from freezing, but I doubt I could get it to stay above 7 degrees.

 

[Steve Maskery]

My neighbour has an up and over metal door. A couple of years ago we insulated it it with polystyrene foam and 3mm MDF. It is a patchwork because of the door ribs and stuff, but it made a huge difference to that end for the garage. It didn't cost much either.

Cheers
Steve

 

[RogerS]

My 'shop' is a single garage - single skinned brick wall, concrete floor, big metal door and pitched roof. A big elextric box is an option, but I'd prefer a passive solution - I was wondering about insulation, anyone had any success? There's a freezer running in the garage and I'm hoping that its waste heat could be enough to keep the garage from freezing, but I doubt I could get it to stay above 7 degrees.

Been renovating a black and white cottage - same construction...single brick skin, concrete floor, nothing in the roof. Having applied insulation to walls, floor and roof void to building regs, have to say that the benefits in minimising heatloss is staggering.

 

[dennis]

MrJay

When you say a pitched roof, what is it made of, as the term pitched refers to a sloping roof as opposed to a flat one.

Dennis

 

[MrJay]

Good point. sloping with tiles.

 

[WellsWood]

My workshop has a double metal up'n over door too. Like Steve's neighbour I insulated it with polystyrene - 1" stuff applied with gripfill type adhesive. It's crude but remarkably effective - and made a huge difference to the amount of heating required in the winter.

Humidity has never been an issue though, but this may be more due to living in the temperate south-east of Britain. Dehumidifiers, as I understand them, are pretty useless at low temperatures as cold air can't hold much water and it's already out there all over your stuff. This is why better ones incorporate heaters I believe.

I think keeping the temperature up is the answer, and to this end insulating should be your first move, otherwise you're just throwing heat (and cash) at the great outdoors. Then get some background heating in there.

 

[Doug B]

My last workshop was a singe brick garage, i lined the wall with a vapour barrier & stud work. Filled between the studs with insulation & boarded over.
The metal door was removed & a pair of wooden doors made, again of stud work construction that could be insulated. Ply inside & tounge & grooved boarding on the outside.
Not only did this cut down the heat loss & the noise, but made it much more secure.
I had a de-humidifier piped to outside, so no emptying containers, left on all the while, but controlled by it`s humidistat, it didn`t seem to be on that much & made no significant difference to the electric bill.

 

[dennis]

Insulation between the roof spars, and then boarded over will make a big saving on heat loss.

Dennis

 

[TheTiddles]

My workshop is pretty large (if only I owned it) and drafty with no insulation or heating or anything really. I keep all my machinery under goretex covers which I have made from scrap materials, so far so good. I found plastic sheeting over the same machines left them running with water.

I have a new batch of scrap materials and will making a job-lot of covers soon with magnets in the corners to hold them to the machines, is there any interest for a few beer tokens? All proceeds go to the Lie Nielsen charitable foundation for equipping woodworkers with shiny new tools!

Aidan

 

[big soft moose]

size wise , yep the foot print is quite big , but its better than rusty tools. ours is on castors and tucks under the assembly bench while the shop is in use - last man to leave pulls it out into the middle of the floor and plugs its timer in. (this is in our work workshop which is a building of agricultual origin - i dont need it at home being in an internal garage with decent heating)

overflow / leakage can be a problem - you need to empty them pretty often. you can mod them to be plumbed in but then you cant move them about as described above.

 

[RogerS]

.....

overflow / leakage can be a problem - you need to empty them pretty often. you can mod them to be plumbed in but then you cant move them about as described above.

hose pipe?

 

[TrimTheKing]

I've got one of these little monkeys in my workshop (check Ruby Dry on the left hand menu) and it works like a dream. It has a tank which needs emptying, or like I have done, a little tap that you put a piece of hose onto and poke it out of a hole in the wall/door.

Because of the way these work it takes in the cool wet air and pumps out warm dry air. My workshop is a timber clad, single skin old stone farm outbuilding which has no insulation at all. This little baby keeps the mid winter temp at around 15 deg C and RH at around 40-50, which is the same as in my house with the central heating on. It also works down to 1 deg C unlike some other types, and is relatively small too.

Expensive, but not a spot of rust on any tools through all last winter, and makes the workshop just about bearable to work in.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Simon]

I run a dehumidifier in my shed and wouldn't be without it....I don't find it expensive to run either.
Look for a continuous drain facility, so you can attach a hose and run this outside to drain.
Also look for low temperature operation, which allows the dehumidifier to work at low temperatures, otherwise they ice up and cause a small flood...(ask me how I know....I replaced it soon after).

I have no rust issues and my cast iron machines are all in the shed....the fan keeps the air moving, dries it and keeps the temperature up a few degrees......don't hesitate.