Humidity problem

[Craig Richmond]

I went into the shop (20x20 stand-alone stick built building) Sunday to work on a project and found that my cast iron tops were damp and in one of the cabinets there was condensation under the shelves. In four years this is the first time I have run across this. I know the shop stays a little humid but did not know like this and I don’t have rust problems. I have a large window style A/C and a kerosene heater but only use them when I am working.
Anyway, I was thinking about buying a good dehumidifier. Do you guys put timers on them to run at certain times of day, leave them on allthe time with a set humidity or ……?

[Andrew Fleck]

I have a basement shop and set my dehumidifier to the percentage that I want and just leave it on all the time. It barely runs in the winter, but the summer is another story. I run a hose from mine to a floor drain so I never have to empty the bin. I leave it on all the time so my wood remains stable and to keep rust from getting to my tools. There isn't a significant increase in my electric bill either. Yours may run more often in SC. That is a humid state.

[Mike Gresham]

I have a setup similar to Andrew's except mine drains into a utility sink. It only needs to run from May through October.

[Craig Richmond]

Well maybe this past weekend was a fluke. I have an older dehumidifier now but don't trust the percentages so I will look for a new one. When you are wood working do you cover it to keep the dust off (don't know if that would effect internal parts)?

[John TenEyck]

I use an old dehumidifier in my shop. They are more rugged, based on the high failure rate of new ones, and the fins in the heat exchanger are further apart so they don't clog up as easily with sawdust. I've had the same one for more than 20 years. I blow it out once every few years with compressed air and it just keeps on working. Of course it's not digital, so I have a humidistat on the wall and set the dehumidifier until the RH is what I want, typically around 50%. As others have said, in the Winter it never runs, in the Summer it runs a lot. I'm guessing it adds about $10/month in the Summer to the electric bill.

John

[Michael Peet]

I use an old dehumidifier in my shop. They are more rugged, based on the high failure rate of new ones, and the fins in the heat exchanger are further apart so they don't clog up as easily with sawdust. I've had the same one for more than 20 years.

Ain't that the truth. The dehumidifiers I've gotten at Home Depot / Lowes have basically been disposable because they only last 2 or 3 years. Meanwhile my dad still uses the unit they had 30 years ago. After the last one died I got one of these: http://www.thermastor.com/Santa-Fe/. I hope it lasts for a while. I try to keep the basement shop between 40% - 50%.

Mike

[Myk Rian]

Sears has good units. We keep one under the house, (tri-level) and it's been there for many years.

[John TenEyck]

Most likely Sears HAD good units. I've had 3 (not Sears) in the past 5 years. All have died, two replaced under warranty, thankfully. The 20+ year old one in my basement needed a new fan motor at one point, but otherwise keeps on running.

John

[phil harold]

I run an air conditioner during the summer in place of a dehumidifier

I keep a ceiling fan on 24/7 in the shop year round
so the temperature stays constant top to bottom

My shop has a metal ceiling that condensates and dripped on my cast iron twice, until I left the fan on 8 years ago

[Craig Richmond]

Even thought I keep it pretty much closed up, I do have cement floor. Plus we do get some good changes in humidity from day to day or week to week at different times of year. I think a decent dehumidifier on low should work.

[Gary Muto]

I went into the shop (20x20 stand-alone stick built building) Sunday to work on a project and found that my cast iron tops were damp and in one of the cabinets there was condensation under the shelves. In four years this is the first time I have run across this. I know the shop stays a little humid but did not know like this and I don’t have rust problems. I have a large window style A/C and a kerosene heater but only use them when I am working.
Anyway, I was thinking about buying a good dehumidifier. Do you guys put timers on them to run at certain times of day, leave them on allthe time with a set humidity or ……?

FYI, a kerosene heater will emit moisture into the air along with other combustion by-products during use. When you shut it off the space will cool down allowing the air to get closer to the dew point, which causes condensation. It could be that the condensation is a transient issue related to using the kerosene heater.

[Myk Rian]

Most likely Sears HAD good units
Alright. Geesh. We have a Kenmore that has been working great for 5 years now.