 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Afternoon all.
I am lucky enough to have a mancave.
Unfortunately it has a tendency to be damp.
There are buildingy-type things I can do to stop some of the dampness but not for a while yet, but because I use it to store my drums (including some vintage ones), and because I took my previously mint condition Slingerland Radio King snare out of its case and found that the damp had caused the finish to crack and craze 😥 I'm now looking for a solution to dry out the room.
One problem is that it had no heating. I have a convection heater in there but although it's left on frost protection mode, it doesn't get turned on full very often as I'm only out there for long periods probably less than once a week.
I've idly been considering getting a dehumidifier. Probably a dessicating one, as the condensing ones apparently don't work at lower temperatures.
I was wondering if it is feasible to hook one up to some solar panels to basically give 'free' power. Alternatively, has anyone ever used anything like a [url= http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDsQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuk.co.uk%2FSolarVenti.htm&ei=0ysdVZyYO8bvaJ2SgegO&usg=AFQjCNGQbBallOAlHU6PcUfQF9zYwWrhRg&sig2=QMCyRss29MBU1b2bid103w&bvm=bv.89744112,d.d2s ]Solarventi[/url]? I like the idea of that.
The mancave has a shallow south facing roof that would be ideal for solar panels.
Any thoughts?
Ventilation (ie an extractor fan) would probably help and would be very cheap and easy to run compared to something used to extract moisture.
You could also place some desiccant in cases of equipment to absorb moisture. You can get colour changing re-generating stuff you heat in the oven.
edit: you can also diy a solar water heater from coke cans (or just buy one) and use it to heat a radiator to add some warmth.
Condensing dehumidifiers need to be above 15C. So it isn't that hot. I dried my garage out over a few days using a dehumidifier with a fan heater (with thermostat) running at the same time to keep tthe temps up.
Depends how bad your damp is. If it only needs dried out every few weeks or longer that would work.
You can certainly run a normal electric convector heater using power from solar PV.... I doubt a dehumidifier would cope with the variable input power.
If it gets that cold then the temperature changes aren't going to help your drums either. If it's uninsulated then the temperature changes will knack anything delicate as much as any moisture. Where's the moisture coming from? Floor, walls, something else in the shed?
As said up there, dessicant in the cases and a low powered fan to draw the air through and ventilate.