Dehumidifiers..... (help)

[Lucky]

These might sound like silly questions, but if you don't know the answer then they arn't !!! And I don't know !!....

Ok, my boat sits in the water all year round at the bottom of the garden. I have just bought an oil filled radiator which I have set to quite a low setting just in case (when) the tempreture gets a little too cold, but....

1) Should I leave a little window open ?

2) Should I purchase a Dehumidifier, and if so:-

3) Obvously it would make sense to buy one that can drain into the sink so it doesn't need constant emptying, if so:-

4) Can a dehumidifier drain 'up' to the sink or do I have to place the dehumidifier high up, and:-

5) Can anyone recommend a suitable one ?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'd rather get it right first time than make silly mistakes which would cost more in the long run.

Luke.

PS. Perhaps I should of put the above questions in next Sundays quiz !!! lololol !! (except I wouldn't know when someone is right ! lololol)

PPS. I have searched this forum and another, but some information seems to conflict a lot - like, if you leave your boat in the water, should you still drain the fresh water tank - some say yes, and some say no..

PPPS. No more PPPPS's !! honest !

[Brian]

Funny thing is, i posted the same on a Caravan Forum a few days ago

I think the same may well apply

[Julz]

Well i have very little experiance of putting a boat to bed for winter Luke, but loads on doing the same for a caravan which is very similar on the domestic side of things

I dont bother with a powered de-humidifyer, but use cat litter trays of common salt to soak up the mosture in the atmosphere inside, changing it every couple of months as it becomes rock soild and can no longer be stired up easily. this works very well for us and i have never suffered any inside winter condensation in the past. You can also buy the special cristals from most large chemists that work the same. I stand all upholstry on its side to allow air to circulate, and completely drain off watertank and toilet. We also avoid trying to heat up the inside of the van unless absoloutly necesary, as this can encourage mildew to form as it cools from any condensation on windows ect, which by the way, we always keep closed, but allow the normal airvents to do their job by not blocking them in any way.

Im sure someone will add some more boatly bits to help you soon, but thought the above may help for now

Julz

[Antares_9]

We have used a dehumidifier for some years Luke, all year round actually, on our last boat after she was about two or three years old we noticed some mildew and the sheets always had that cold feeling so we thought we’d try one. The boat was transformed and always smelled sweet and there was never a trace of mildew or mould. Kingfisher has had one used from new and after nearly 4 years there has been no mould or mildew at all and again the boat always smells sweet with no mustiness. The evidence of just how much water has been removed from the air is self evident each weekend when we arrive and It’s often quite a bit as the internal tank has filled and overflowed via the drain hose to the galley sink.

I think there are two options, either have lots of ventilation and no dehumidifier or a dehumidifier and NO ventilation, unless of course you want to dehumidify Oulton.

If you do go the dehumidifier route try to get a hot defrost model with a drain hose so you can drain into the sink and over the side.

[senator]

Not such a problem for you luke having the boat at the bottom of the garden but we bought a fairly high quality one with all the bells and whistles.

Problem with it is that on power up it needs to be told what you want it to do and will sit with its please tell me what to do light glowing green untill you do.

Ian

This means if the shore power goes off the thing will not start back up when it comes back on.

You would need a pump to get one to discharge higher than its condensate drain. Most don't have one so you need to put it on the worktop. Why worry about it though, just leave it to its internal tank and empty it once a week.

Big diference between boats and caravans. Boats are floating on water resulting in much higher humidity levels than you would expect in your average field.

[Happy Jax 3]

Hi Luke

As we tend to use our boat all year round, small frost heaters and a dehumidifier allows us to do this without stripping the boat out every time we leave it.

As has already been said, I don't think you can get a dehumidifier with a built in pump to pump water up. we leave our unit on the side next to the sink and drain direct into the sink.

There are many units on the market and many of them switch off if the temperature drops below 10 degrees C. It is worth spending a little extra to ensure they operate down to 5 degrees C.

[Lucky]

Thanks for all the input - So, it looks like the dehumidifier is the way to go, alongside the oil filled rad.... BUT....

Been looking on eBay and the choice is overwhelming..... From £29.99 to £100's.....

Can someone possibly recommend a manufacturer and model that I should buy - perhaps one that you have and haven't had any trouble with ? Its not like buying a car or fridge - "Which" don't seem to do reviews on dehumidifiers !! lol !!

It must have the external water drain though and as Happy said - at least down to 5 degrees and perhaps automatic defrost ?

[Antares_9]

The one we have does everything you list Luke (bar a lift pump) and all in a 12" cube, made in UK and is designed for use on a boat, it's never given a minutes trouble in over 10 years of constant use.

One small issue though, the company that made them has gone tits up.

[Guest]

Luke,

This ticks all the boxes, works very well, and is reasonably priced. We have an almost identical unit but not XM branded.

http://marinestore.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PL49273

Phil and Carron

[pks1702]

We bought a Delonghi Dem10 3 years ago and it has been faultless, it has a tank or self drain option and also a Humidstat which allows you to set the humidity level it will then kick in when levels rise above a bit like a thermostat. I echo David's comments on them keeping your ship sweet and mould free.

http://www.allergymatters.com/acatalog/ ... DEM10.html

I have to say the B&Q model looks very similar and is around £20 cheaper so this might be worth a look

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?a ... earch=true

[Lucky]

I have plumped for the XM - and great news that not only PJCJ's advice showed the best available price, but I get an extra 2.5% discount too, and free delivery.

I've never used one of these before, let alone on a boat, so for the first day or two I think I'll just let it fill up the internal tank to see how much moisture it actually takes out of the air before fitting the hose to the sink....

All I seem to be doing on here is asking for advice, so I really want you guys to know its really appreciated. Hopefully, over time, and once I get back into the swing of things, I will be able to give advice to others too !!

Luke.

[Antares_9]

All I seem to be doing on here is asking for advice, so I really want you guys to know its really appreciated. Hopefully, over time, and once I get back into the swing of things, I will be able to give advice to others too !!

Luke.

Well I don't know about anybody else but that's what I thought this forum is all about, practical useful advice, and there really is a mine of it here, both technical and navigational including you I imagine Luke.

[Lucky]

Well I don't know about anybody else but that's what I thought this forum is all about, practical useful advice, and there really is a mine of it here, both technical and navigational including you I imagine Luke.

Totally agree with you - that's what forums are all about, but as I have just really been "ask ask ask" at the moment and not been in a postition to give much back, I just wanted to say a big thanks to all that have helped !

Just had a little shock, went through all the places for boat insurance and the best I found is £299 !! My poor wallet !! lol !!!

Am I right in saying that all boats on the Broads have to be insured from next year ? I wonder if there are as many claims on boats as there are on cars/motorbikes ratio'd out ?

[Antares_9]

£299.00? doesn't sound bad for a boat like yours Luke anything capable of over 17kts attracts a heavy premuim even though you aren't allowed to do that except on Breydon. If you got full cover and coastal use included I would go so far as to say it's almost too good to be true, if it's for inland use It's about right and good value.

[Lucky]

Ah, some of the quotes went up to £500 !! But I'm starting to get the hang of this internet stuff you know !!!

I compared many quotes and the one I have covers everything I need, coastal too !

My point was more that I own a car which is worth more than the boat and I would of thought that I stand more chance making a claim on that rather than the boat, but the insurance on the boat is twice that of the car !!

[Guest]

These days the value of the boat seems to have as much of an impact as anything. I was incredulous to discover that our similar but newer and considerably faster boat was somewhat less expensive to insure than the old one using the same policy from the same insurer. When I queried the drop in premium I was informed it was down to the price. The market having reduced someone since we bought our previous boat the purchase price was therefore somewhat lower and that is what the insurance people were going on.

Your boat is easily double the value of ours, perhaps triple. I am guessing it's probably quite a bit faster too. We pay £200, you pay £300, doesn't sound particularly out of kilter to me on the face of it.

[Guest]

We must be getting something wrong here… car £550 pa, boat £360 pa through Nav and Gen with coastal and tender/outboard cover (and the car was fractionally more than half the price of the boat, although as that was five months back it’s now probably nearer a third ).

Phil and Carron

[Lucky]

Getting back to the dehumidifier subject (my fault, I diversified) the XM was delivered yesterday and as a trial I put it on full blast for the whole night expecting it to have filled the tank - but nothing, not even a single drop....

Is this right ? Are humidity levels ok at the moment and I shouldn't expect anything in the tank at the moment ?

[pks1702]

I put it on full blast for the whole night expecting it to have filled the tank - but nothing, not even a single drop....

I assume the drain plug is in

On full blast you should have seen some water in the tank overnight for sure.

[Happy Jax 3]

Getting back to the dehumidifier subject (my fault, I diversified) the XM was delivered yesterday and as a trial I put it on full blast for the whole night expecting it to have filled the tank - but nothing, not even a single drop....

Is this right ? Are humidity levels ok at the moment and I shouldn't expect anything in the tank at the moment ?

When I put mine on last week end, after an hour I had water coming out.

[senator]

that does sound a bit odd.

Mine has a very large tank of about 10 litres and at the moment is draining into it. The tank will fill in about 8 days set to 60%

[smitch6]

did you read the instructions?

we've just bought a delonghi des12 from argos for £150

and its like a fridge basically thats how they work so also like a fridge you have to let it stand for a few hours before switching on

to allow the gas coolant to settle and bubbles etc

always worth reading instructions i just happened to read some reviews about mine and it said after he left it for 2 hours away it went

good job because i was just gonna plug it in

ours works a treat tho altho its a bit bulky but we do have a big boat

it only really does the room we're in doesn't seem to like doors even when left open

but it fills the tank in about 2 days 3l

[Lucky]

I think I must have a problem with this one - its been a week now and not one drop of water....

HOWEVER - the cabin of the 310 is bone dry, doesn't smell and is fine - BUT, the dehumidifer does have settings, and it still comes on...

Is there a practical way to test this ? Put the heaters on full blast, open the windows etc etc - or am I going in the wrong direction ?

[mbird]

Why not take it indoors, have a goot hot steamy bath to turn the bathroom into a steam room, and then whack the humididifier on full blast in there to see if it collects anything? (note bathrooms and electrickery don't mix, so be careful!)

[Lucky]

I'll do that now Mark !

(Yet again we posted at exactly the same time, same idea too !! so I've edited my post)