Controlling garage humidity

I

imported_RedlineIRL

New member
I got everything situated and moved in at my new place, and now my car is being stored in the garage like I have been wating to do for the longest time. So I am new to the vehicle storage thing. I don't plan on keeping it stored without running for a real extended period, will probably drive it every two or three weeks. At the moment I don't have a cover either, but will in due time.



I haven't driven my car in a week, and I already feel like I may be doing more harm to it by letting it sit instead of driving it. Reaon I say that is because the humidity is a big prblem here in the oh so awesome south east. On my thermometer in the garage, from late afternoon throught the evening the humidity level is usually beteween 70 to 80 percent. I have a 30 pint capacity dehumidifer that I have been using a few hours a day continuously. Apparently the dehumidifer does not have much moisture to pull since the pan has only enough to cover the bottom of the pan when I shut it off. The garage floor is concrete, but it is not damp feeling at all.



I am really concerned that exposure to this humidity range is going to do more harm to my car sitting (rust, mold, mildew growth) than if I were driving it everyday like I used to. Does this humidity range sound to be really extreme for a stored vehicle? The dehumidifer doesn't seem to help too much. What else can I do?







Since I plan on leaving the car sit two to three weeks at a time, is it OK if I leave the windows closed during this period? Or is it a good idea to open them just a little bit? I don't wond mold or mildew growth developing in the interirior, so I don't know which I should do to prevent it. Thanks for any help in advance
 
RedlineIRL- I'd leave the dehumidifier running.



Maybe it's too cold in the garage for the dehumidifier to work effectively :think: The latest one in my shop is a Sears, and it doesn't pull water very effectively when the temps are low.



But just the air circulation from the thing running all the time will help more that you might think. I gotta replace the batteries in my humididstat thing, but my shop gets awfully humid at times, and stays that way for a while until the dehumidifier finally does something about it, and/but I don't have any problems to speak of from it (though sure, drier is better and all that).



And I keep the windows *CLOSED*. Zero issues, not even when I leave vehicles in that shop for years on end. Worst that ever happens is some surface rust on things like brake rotors and other bare steel/iron surfaces.
 
Maybe the cooler temperatures is the problems then. It has been getting into the low 30 and and sometimes high 20s at night. The garage has been maintaining anywhere from 48 to 50 degrees inside. The dehumidifer I am using is also Sears Kennmore, but its an older model.



I will be sure to keep the wondows closed then. I have heard of people leaving them closed, while others opened them slightly. I didn't know if leaving them open slightly could aid in ventilation and keep the car from smelling musty over time.





I need to insulate the attic and the garage door itself, so maybe that will help with the temperature and decrease humidity. I was also planning to do a garage floor coating, such as the Ucoat or something similar. Dumb questinon, but this has me wondering. Does a floor coting provide any kind of barrier from the moisture drawn from the concrete from being released in the garage?
 
RL, I think you might need the Carcoon! The fancier ones have some type of environmental control.



Carcoon2.jpg




My dehumidifer freezes up solid when the temps are too cool (and I'm talking about in my basement). I don't know how much use that will be. Did you check to see if it's frozen up??



I find a small fan running all the time helps "stir" the air. You can use one of those box fans. That might help.



Heat will drop the humidity, but probably not the direction you want to go.



Do you have concerns with mice and stuff like that. I think that would worry me more than the "humidity" issue.
 
I almost bought one of those car-coons once, but with our almost-frequent power outages I decided not to (plus, it'd make moving the mothballed cars around even harder).



I've been running the one Sears dehumidifier on it's "x-hours on/off cycle". Seems to pull as much water as when I left it on all the time, probably because of how the off-time helps prevent freezing.



But yeah, if it gets into the 30s, most *any* dehumidifier will become ineffective, let alone a Sears one. Mine to has issues in the basement, and that never gets down into the 50s even.
 
This is still one of my dreams. One of these days, I'm gonna bite the bullet and put the Caddy in one :D :D



tom p. said:
RL, I think you might need the Carcoon! The fancier ones have some type of environmental control.



Carcoon2.jpg




My dehumidifer freezes up solid when the temps are too cool (and I'm talking about in my basement). I don't know how much use that will be. Did you check to see if it's frozen up??



I find a small fan running all the time helps "stir" the air. You can use one of those box fans. That might help.



Heat will drop the humidity, but probably not the direction you want to go.



Do you have concerns with mice and stuff like that. I think that would worry me more than the "humidity" issue.
Click to expand...
 
Wonder if you have to "drive onto it" or if I could roll it on with my Go-Jaks :think: I'd be using a corner of the shop where you can't actually drive the car into position, and getting the little wheels of the G-Js up onto a "tarp-like surface", and then doing some final positioning, would be awfully tough.
 
My friend has an original Mini Cooper. I told him to save money he could just buy an extra large garbage bag and a box fan. He gave me a dirty look.
 
tom p. said:
RL, I think you might need the Carcoon! The fancier ones have some type of environmental control.



Carcoon2.jpg
Click to expand...

Those are nice, but look like they could be a hassle to get the car in and out of.



tom p. said:
My dehumidifer freezes up solid when the temps are too cool (and I'm talking about in my basement). I don't know how much use that will be. Did you check to see if it's frozen up??
Click to expand...

Its not frozen, but it does say do not use in temperatures less than 65 degrees on it. Doh, oh well



tom p. said:
Heat will drop the humidity, but probably not the direction you want to go.



Do you have concerns with mice and stuff like that. I think that would worry me more than the "humidity" issue.
Click to expand...

I did buy a Mr. Heater to connect to my 20lb propane tank, and it does seem to drop the humidity in the garage according to the thermometer.



Mice and rodents don't really seem to concern me, since I do have traps out in the garage. Luckily none have been in there.



The humidity concerns me since the car spends most of its time in a dark and damper air environment, I don't want this to cause any premature interior deterioration or rusting.









Tell me what you all think here, but I think there are a couple things that need to be taken care of to help lower the humidity level and allow warmer air to remain in the garage. One is to insulate the garage door, and the other is to use a floor coating or race deck tiles over the concrete
 
RedlineIRL- I can't help but think you oughta look into a "low-temp" dehumidifier. Yeah, those scare-quotes are justified, but some work better than others, especially if you use the on/off cycles (it turns on/off for a set number of hours, allowing it do defrost).



Otherwise, yeah, insulation will help with condensation-type humidity (if that's a problem).



Some types of low-power heaters (I think mine are called "damp-rid" or somesuch) can help a bit if the problem isn't too bad.



Be careful with floor coverings as many can actually *retain* moisture in their nooks and crannies.



I'd sure hate to be wrong, but I *kinda* think you're worrying about this a little excessively. Some of the places I've stored my Jag were on the dark-and-damp side, but it wasn't ever an issue. But I guess it's a fine line between no-problem and big-problem.
 
I agree with Accumulator, having had many classic cars stored over the years I never really had any problems in my insulated garage. The main source of cold was the floor.



I now have my garage centrally heated/cooled and keep it at around 45 degrees in the winter just to keep the bone chill of of them (and me) when we drive anything. I crank it up to 65 degrees when I work out there but has never caused moisture/condensation. A heated floor would be ideal but that will never happen at my place now.



The best thing to do, IMO, is drive the cars year round. Once a month I make sure to exercise each car. I drive it at least 20 minutes 'after' it reaches full hot operating temps. It is a good thing for anything that moves and especially for the fuel system.



I know that general concensus is to keep a FULL tank of gas in the car but I rarely do. IMO, since it takes a long time to run through a tank of gas on cars that are not driven much throughout the year, I like to keep adding FRESH fuel as I use it. I have never experienced any problems with fuel tank condensation and a recent inspection of my BMW's 39 year old tank shows no rust at all.



This 'fresh is best' method has worked well for me. One year I had to have some expensive repairs (and cleaning) done to my old BMW's Kugelfischer high pressure fuel injection system when old gas fouled things up. Never again!
 
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