Carcoon

[rockits]

Just testing some 6m x 3m polytunnels by the workshop to store one car per polytunnnel. Was going to look at sealing these individually as much as I can & run a dehumidifier inside.

How much water do you extract each day or week out of interest? Or how often does it need to be emptied.

Are there dehumifier's that can extract to a drain or large drum rather than small container? I couldn't empty this every day, few days or even every week really.

 

[rk100]

Just testing some 6m x 3m polytunnels by the workshop to store one car per polytunnnel. Was going to look at sealing these individually as much as I can & run a dehumidifier inside. How much water do you extract each day or week out of interest? Or how often does it need to be emptied. Are there dehumifier's that can extract to a drain or large drum rather than small container? I couldn't empty this every day, few days or even every week really.

I think you can connect a hose out of some of them which would mean you would not have to continually empty it

 

[Codger49]

I have an EcoAir DD322 (now called DD3 Classic) desiccant dehumdifier in my 20'x25' unheated detached brick garage. It does have a continuous drainage function - a bung at the lower edge of its water container to accommodate a plastic tube. No pump though, so only gravity drainage.

In wet and humid conditions, like now, I empty the 3 1/2 litre container twice a day.

 

[rockits]

Wow that is a fair bit of water content. I am hoping/guessing the polytunnel won't be able to be completely sealed which will be good as will help get some changes of air over time.

I am guessing with most cheap/mid priced dehumidifier that it won't have a humidity setting to cut out when 55% is reached. If the air is less than 55% is that better than it being higher or worse? I expect it is harder to breath in these lower conditions but I don't think the car will complain much.

I might be able to wire up some kind of environment sensor on the network to send alerts by e-mail when certain conditions are reached or not reached. Keeps a nice log on conditions this way. I will have a wired backbone link into the workshop so could run PoE from there to environment sensors or use some kind of battery operated wireless sensors.

 

[markwibbs]

You can connect a drain hose (supplied) to the Meaco unit and either run it out of the Carcoon/AirChamber into a drain or big 25L barrel or have that inside (drill a hole just big enough for the hose if so) and make sure there is a slope on the drain hose to ensure flow.

If you only haver one Chamber inside your garage I'd place the dehum inside it, which minimises its work. These shut off when your pres-set humidity level is reached, some cheaper units wont. Humidity too low and older leather, seals etc will start to dry out but thats better than too high as there'd be no benefit in maintain a humid atmosphere.

A dehum inside a garage or chamber will create convection currents as the air it produces is warmed so will flow around the space, eliminating pockets of dampness. If you're running a dehum in a chamber or polytunnel, there is no benefit in having a flow of fresh air into the dehumidified environment, you'll fail to reduce humidity and increase your elec bill. Make everything as airtight as you can. Tutenkamens tomb had 3,000 year old dry air in there and everything was pristine, so you dont need to introduce fresh air.

 

[markwibbs]

Get yourself a 25L barrel from a chemical company or similar - you can use the water for your iron/car washing, but you must have a leaky garage ?

 

[rockits]

Thanks for that....very informative and useful. I will give the sealed approach with dehumidifier draining to an outside barrel or maybe a water butt may do the trick. Just will need to get the dehumidifier higher to drain out to the container. Or maybe put some kind of in-line pump instead.

 

[rockits]

Having a look at different makes/models the Igenix IG9805 Portable Dehumidifier doesn't seem too bad.

 

[Toobad]

But isn't the Igenix a refrigerant-based dehumidifier with a compressor? You'll get nothing like the claimed extraction rate when the ambient temperature drops. At around 5C it is going to shut off altogether as the condensate on the cooling fins will have frozen solid. Dessicant-based dehumidifiers remain efficient right down to about 2C and have the additional benefit of outputting warm air which can help in elevating the ambient temperature, especially in near hermetically sealed enclosures. On the downside, their lifespan is nowhere near as long as the more conventional compressor dehumidifiers provided you stick with a leading brand like EcoAir, Meaco or Ebac rather than the multitude of Chinese badge-engineered makes.

 

[markwibbs]

The Igenix states 8L extraction but that will be at 30 degrees, it'll be useless in an unheated UK environment.

I run a Meaco DD9L Junior at home. Its about £60 cheaper too.
http://www.carcovershop.co.uk/dehumidifiers-car-storage.asp

 

[rockits]

But isn't the Igenix a refrigerant-based dehumidifier with a compressor? You'll get nothing like the claimed extraction rate when the ambient temperature drops. At around 5C it is going to shut off altogether as the condensate on the cooling fins will have frozen solid. Dessicant-based dehumidifiers remain efficient right down to about 2C and have the additional benefit of outputting warm air which can help in elevating the ambient temperature, especially in near hermetically sealed enclosures. On the downside, their lifespan is nowhere near as long as the more conventional compressor dehumidifiers provided you stick with a leading brand like EcoAir, Meaco or Ebac rather than the multitude of Chinese badge-engineered makes.

You are correct that this is a refrigerant based one so not really suitable. I know from the split air con unit I have in the home office that it freezes up in sub zero temps. That has an internal auto defrost procedure to resolve this but I expect the dehumidifiers won't. Therefore the dessicant based ones seem better.

Do these seem to run in garage environments 24 hours a day or in the real world operate only a few hours a day just kicking in when needed? Just trying to work out some ballpark running costs.

 

[Toobad]

Dehumidifier running costs comparison.

 

[markwibbs]

Yes - In the real world they operate only a few hours a day just kicking in when needed

The Meaco units listed on that link dont mention the Monitoring Mode at 40w (cost = nothing) which it would be in for almost the entire day, assuming the environment is not experiencing an influx of fresh air. It may kick in in the evening as temperatures drop for a bit but if you budget on say 4 hours a day at 4p/hour, a quid a week during the winter ?