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Old 05-04-2021, 08:36 AM   #1
TheBigPig
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Condensation

Took the camper out for the 2nd time ever. Temperatures dropped below freezing at night and I was running my furnace. The next morning I noticed some condensation on the camper wall just behind my head, mostly where the mattress and pillow meets the wall. I looked at every other wall pretty closely and didn't find any other wet areas. A photo of the outside of the front of the camper that morning is below. Probably around the area of that sticker mid-camper and the light. I do not think it was below the diamond plate and I checked the joint there and all seems pretty tight.

My guess is that this was just a little condensation and could be considered normal from time to time, but I wanted some additional thoughts. Should I be concerned about this? Thanks!
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Old 05-04-2021, 09:10 AM   #2
dutchmensport
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No concern. Condensation is normal, especially with the gas powered furnace running. The law of the Coca Cola can prevails! When the inside is ice-cold and the outside is a nice warm temperature, the outside sweats. (condensation).

The same is happing in your camper, and it happens in all of them. Some are more noticeable than others, and some places in any camper is more noticeable than others.

The inside wall of your camper is warmer than the outside (near the bed). The humidity inside the camper will collect at the most convenient place, or be drawn to it. In your case, the head of your bed and things begin to sweat (condensation).

About the only thing you can do to prevent interior condensation is air flow. Fresh air in, old air out. Leaving a window cracked, or the roof vent cracked is usually all it takes. But that does let in more cold, so the furnace will probably run more.

Some things you can do. When taking a shower always run your bathroom ceiling fan to suck as much moisture out as possible from the bathroom. Run your bathroom roof vent fan and / or your living room/kitchen whenever cooking, especially if boiling water. This will also draw moisture outside. Run a fan at night to keep air circulating with a cracked window or roof vent. Lower the temperature while you are sleeping. Pull the mattress away from the wall a few inches, this lets air circulate behind the mattress.

And of course there is one other option ... stop breathing! Your breath exhales an amazing amount of moisture, and that moisture will settle on cold surfaces ... thus, the wall near your head.

What's really amazing is when the inside of the camper is cooler than the outside, and in the morning when you wake up, before the sun dries things out, the sweat on your camper will outline the frame of the camper.



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Old 05-04-2021, 09:19 AM   #3
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Thank you Dutch. I figured as much but I'm completely new to this whole camping thing and just wanted other opinions.
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Old 05-04-2021, 12:22 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by TheBigPig View Post
Thank you Dutch. I figured as much but I'm completely new to this whole camping thing and just wanted other opinions.
Pay close attention to the walls in your trailer during the winter. Typically, as you've seen, the mattress/pillow area will "condense and stay wet". That is, as explained a "normal occurrence"... It's important to keep the mattress and any bed coverings away from the wall so things can dry out when possible. Also keep an eye on the end of the dinette cushions and where the back of the sofa sits close to the wall. Those areas will also condense just like the mattress...

In addition, it pays to open all of your cabinet doors periodically to let them dry out. The "cold walls inside the cabinets mounted on outer walls" will attract the warmer/moist air and can lead to wet cupboard shelves next to the outside wall.... Opening all the cabinet doors allows the inside area to dry and prevent mold/mildew.

We've had a couple of trailers where the bed support platform would be "soaking wet under the mattress" after a couple of really cold days with the furnace running full time... Stay on top of those "closed up/covered up areas" during winter camping. That "gallon of water a day we all exhale and sweat" has to go somewhere...
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Old 12-23-2021, 08:26 AM   #5
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Is there a product that can be put under the mattress of our RV that will prevent moisture to condense against the wood? I've seen a few products just wondering which has been tried from this forum and how they worked? Thanks.
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Old 12-23-2021, 09:06 AM   #6
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Is there a product that can be put under the mattress of our RV that will prevent moisture to condense against the wood? I've seen a few products just wondering which has been tried from this forum and how they worked? Thanks.
There are lots of "home remedies" to prevent condensation under mattresses. One of the most common is a sheet of half inch rigid foam board. You can buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot. It works fairly well in most situations...

Probably one of the best products is "Hypervent", a product that supports the matterss "on a layer of air" so there's "ventilation under the mattress". It's significantly more expensive than a $20 sheet of rigid foam, but it works "so much better that it deserves more than a casual dismissal".... Many of the "luxury travel trailers either have it as standard equipment or offer it as an optional accessory. You can take a look at the product on their website: https://www.hyperventonline.com/

Cost for 60" wide hypervent is around $10 a running foot, so around $70 for a queen bed.
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Old 12-23-2021, 04:51 PM   #7
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Lots of good information from Dutchman and John, Dutchman did state in error that running the gas furnace creates humidity. Yes, the combustion of the gas does create water vapor, but the furnace combustion happens in a sealed combustion chamber and exhaust outside. Now using the stove or oven will add humidity, so important to an exhaust vent while using.
We don’t have an issue with condensation under the mattress, but did get it at the head of the bed. We solved this with two vertical pieces of 2x4 to space the mattress away from the wall, this works well.
We full time host in Oregon, we have two dehumidifiers a large one in the living area, and a small counter top unit in the bed room. We don’t open vents or windows, we do run the stove vent when cooking, we run the bathroom vent when we shower, for about 20 minutes after showering.
Didn’t read all responses, but we keep cabinet doors slightly open.
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Old 12-23-2021, 07:25 PM   #8
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Actually, the furnace is "responsible for" (doesn't create but facilitates) increased humidity inside the trailer's closed space. As air warms, it holds more moisture, and then as that "wet air" comes in contact with a cold surface, the air cools and can no longer hold the moisture, so it "condenses on the cold surface".... That may be windows, it may be the cold space behind the mattress, the roof vents, or along the refrigerator door seal... Wherever there is a cold surface, that warm air will "deposit water droplets".....

So, Russ is correct, the "sealed combustion in the furnace" doesn't add moisture to the air inside the trailer (assuming there's no exhaust leak), but the furnace is what "warms the air so it can hold the cooking and bathroom moisture that's released inside the confined space in the trailer interior".....
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Old 12-23-2021, 08:34 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Actually, the furnace is "responsible for" (doesn't create but facilitates) increased humidity inside the trailer's closed space. As air warms, it holds more moisture, and then as that "wet air" comes in contact with a cold surface, the air cools and can no longer hold the moisture, so it "condenses on the cold surface".... That may be windows, it may be the cold space behind the mattress, the roof vents, or along the refrigerator door seal... Wherever there is a cold surface, that warm air will "deposit water droplets".....

So, Russ is correct, the "sealed combustion in the furnace" doesn't add moisture to the air inside the trailer (assuming there's no exhaust leak), but the furnace is what "warms the air so it can hold the cooking and bathroom moisture that's released inside the confined space in the trailer interior".....
As stated any heating system will increase the ability of air to hold moisture, that is why we have dehumidifiers. We are looking at some cold temperatures here in the balmy PNW next week down into the mid—teens.
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Old 12-24-2021, 08:56 AM   #10
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What are your thoughts on dehumidifiers


https://www.lowes.com/pd/DampRid-64-...E&gclsrc=aw.ds


https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Breeze-El...79370958&psc=1
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Old 12-24-2021, 09:20 AM   #11
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I've used both kinds you linked to; threw the damp rid stuff away and gave away the little dehumidifier. Neither did anything (or very little) to remove moisture. The only kinds worth using IMO are the units with a compressor, now they actually remove water.....a lot of it. Those using dessicant are both inefficient and very low performance. Used dessicant a lot back in the day for moisture removal but when you want it to remove gallons of water it's out of its depth.

After trying the others with literally no success I first tried a 35 pint, 2 speed HiSense unit from Lowe's. Worked wonders but it was large, heavy and created a lot of heat - so much so that I ended up putting a heat resistant barrier under it on the floor. It now sits in the barn because of those drawbacks.

The one I currently use, and love, is a smaller Ivation unit. It is compressor driven, quiet and far cooler than the larger HiSense unit. Perfect for our RV. Sits on a wooden topped TV type tray at the end of the kitchen island. Just empty the container a couple of times a day (it came with a drain hose kit as well) and stay dry and comfortable. Condensation on the walls, mattress etc. as we are reading about in other threads....we don't have it.
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Old 12-24-2021, 09:27 AM   #12
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I've used both kinds you linked to; threw the damp rid stuff away and gave away the little dehumidifier. Neither did anything (or very little) to remove moisture. The only kinds worth using IMO are the units with a compressor, now they actually remove water.....a lot of it. Those using dessicant are both inefficient and very low performance. Used dessicant a lot back in the day for moisture removal but when you want it to remove gallons of water it's out of its depth.

After trying the others with literally no success I first tried a 35 pint, 2 speed HiSense unit from Lowe's. Worked wonders but it was large, heavy and created a lot of heat - so much so that I ended up putting a heat resistant barrier under it on the floor. It now sits in the barn because of those drawbacks.

The one I currently use, and love, is a smaller Ivation unit. It is compressor driven, quiet and far cooler than the larger HiSense unit. Perfect for our RV. Sits on a wooden topped TV type tray at the end of the kitchen island. Just empty the container a couple of times a day (it came with a drain hose kit as well) and stay dry and comfortable. Condensation on the walls, mattress etc. as we are reading about in other threads....we don't have it.

Can you please send a link?
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Old 12-24-2021, 09:44 AM   #13
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Here is a link to the one I use I believe;

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Ivation-11-...ier/1000921784

I got ours from Amazon but they don't show it any longer and these at Lowe's show out of stock so don't know if they are available anymore.

Here's a link to a larger unit from Lowe's:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Freonic-Ene...ier/5005382191

That one may be a bit too large but there is one review that mentions how well it worked in his RV. There are probably more options at other stores so may want to look around a little.
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Old 12-24-2021, 04:39 PM   #14
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DON’T ever us the crystal dehumidifiers! If you spill the fluid on a even slightly porous surface, it will always be damp /wet until replaced. Spoken from experience!

The small unit is similar to the one we have in our bedroom, it helps but isn’t ment to do the whole trailer. The larger units that Sourdough had links to are similar to what we use. Ours is a GE we got at Home Depot.
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Old 01-02-2022, 09:20 AM   #15
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I ended up getting the Freonic. It's a bit overkill but go big or go home! So far its working great. Now I just have to get the leak fixed.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/Freonic-Ene...ier/5005382191
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Old 01-02-2022, 09:39 AM   #16
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I ended up getting the Freonic. It's a bit overkill but go big or go home! So far its working great. Now I just have to get the leak fixed.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/Freonic-Ene...ier/5005382191
Good choice, it will serve you well.
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Old 01-02-2022, 10:55 AM   #17
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I ended up getting the Freonic. It's a bit overkill but go big or go home! So far its working great. Now I just have to get the leak fixed.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/Freonic-Ene...ier/5005382191

Tony I bet that will help a lot. Keep in mind what I mentioned about heat from the unit and the floor. We kept our previous one on the floor until it felt like the floor was getting a bit soft so started putting a heat resistant rug under it (35 pint HiSense). If it was the heat or something else I don't know but saw no signs of any kind of damage and it was only where the large dehumidifier sat. In this one, with a smaller dehumidifier, we don't have that issue as it sits on a folding table and it's worked perfectly.
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Old 01-02-2022, 11:36 AM   #18
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It may not seem like a lot of heat being produced "under the dehumidifier" but over the long term, that 95F temp is enough to dry the oils out of the vinyl flooring and cause it to yellow and crack. Like Danny suggested, sitting it on a heat resistant rug or on a rubber "boot tray" will protect your "low bid vinyl flooring" from damage that happens so slowly that you probably won't even notice it until it's too late.....
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