Tubular heaters and ventilation

[David]

I find all this a little weird...I had a fuck off big shed built in Wales ( sobs...had to leave it behind). The only time I had signs of damp was when the roof covering split/ blew off/ leaked.
Never had mould, no vents other than slightly gappy doors, only occasional heat( I had a fire, but you spend more time feeding it than working). Occasionally used a calor heater....so how come I got away with that at the top of a mountain in Wales?

[Rockburner]

I find all this a little weird...I had a fuck off big shed built in Wales ( sobs...had to leave it behind). The only time I had signs of damp was when the roof covering split/ blew off/ leaked.
Never had mould, no vents other than slightly gappy doors, only occasional heat( I had a fire, but you spend more time feeding it than working). Occasionally used a calor heater....so how come I got away with that at the top of a mountain in Wales?

Airflow

[formula400]

good job this come up again, fitted to small vents to the front of the shed, rear vent ill do this week as I am some time off.

[ninja]

I've got a quite gucci 11x7 shed. No windows but with lots of vents along the top of the side walls, under the eaves which I block off in the winter. I fitted alufoam stuff to the ceiling, which I think makes a big difference.

I run a 4' tube heater permanently on, on the floor between my two covered bikes. It was fine last year. Nothing got damp whatsoever.
It seems to keep the inside 2 or 3° above the ambient.

From my experience, it's the cold soaked metal parts of the bike (the engine) that gets very cold and then the shed warms up in the day and the water vapour just condenses out on the cold metal. So if you can keep the metal parts a bit warmer, it stops that.

I was going to get another tube for when I'm in there but it's not really worth it.

[Skub]

As you have power in there, my rec would be to get a de-humidifier - it's what I've done at this house for the garage and it's been brilliant- my garage is below the ground level of the house and a good bit of the garden so really does suffer from damp, and as soon as the weather started getting colder my bikes were soaking wet every morning, I fannied around with a greenhouse heater which didn't do it in mine ( might in yours if it's smaller and has better ventilation I guess) , I thought about putting vents in, but bought one of these to try and haven't looked back.
Everything is bone dry ( I'm getting 5 or 6 litres of water out of the air in there every day at the moment ), it warms the garage up a bit , and costs 3/5 of f-all to run

This is the one I bought- it has a tank and auto-shuts off when full, or if you connect a small-bore hose and run it outside so you never have to worry emptying the tank
https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/meac ... E2EALw_wcB

Enough fannying about with a soaking bike,I've just ordered one. Ta for the tip Tricky.

[Tricky]

Mine's going strong, been on non-stop since I bought it and is brilliant, albeit if I was buying it again for my garage here, I'd get a bigger one, probably the Meaco 20L which we have in the house, as this time of year I have to empty the garage one twice every 24hrs, mainly due to the garage being sort of half underground.
I did try to plumb in the exhaust pipe so I wouldn't ever have to empty the tank but it didn't drain consistently ;- suspect it may have been due to the length of pipe I used and/or height /drop of pipe , but I didn't persevere and just keep emptying the tank so if you get the exhaust working I want to see how you did it!

[Skub]

Mine's going strong, been on non-stop since I bought it and is brilliant, albeit if I was buying it again for my garage here, I'd get a bigger one, probably the Meaco 20L which we have in the house, as this time of year I have to empty the garage one twice every 24hrs, mainly due to the garage being sort of half underground.
I did try to plumb in the exhaust pipe so I wouldn't ever have to empty the tank but it didn't drain consistently ;- suspect it may have been due to the length of pipe I used and/or height /drop of pipe , but I didn't persevere and just keep emptying the tank so if you get the exhaust working I want to see how you did it!

Ha! we'll see when it arrives next week.

What do you reckon the garage Meaco stiffs you to run?

[Tricky]

Ha! we'll see when it arrives next week.

What do you reckon the garage Meaco stiffs you to run?

Tricky one, I've tried to measure it on our smart meter turning them on and off and watching the " per hour" screen and it fluctuates by a maximum of 1 or 2 pence, so my (very rough) guess is it's somewhere between 20p and 50p a day

[Mussels]

I've had my 200W dehumidifier running through a smart plug for the last three weeks and it's cost me six quid so far on 20p/kwh.
Yours will vary of course but it probably won't break the bank.

[MrLongbeard]

As you have power in there, my rec would be to get a de-humidifier - it's what I've done at this house for the garage and it's been brilliant- my garage is below the ground level of the house and a good bit of the garden so really does suffer from damp, and as soon as the weather started getting colder my bikes were soaking wet every morning, I fannied around with a greenhouse heater which didn't do it in mine ( might in yours if it's smaller and has better ventilation I guess) , I thought about putting vents in, but bought one of these to try and haven't looked back.
Everything is bone dry ( I'm getting 5 or 6 litres of water out of the air in there every day at the moment ), it warms the garage up a bit , and costs 3/5 of f-all to run

This is the one I bought- it has a tank and auto-shuts off when full, or if you connect a small-bore hose and run it outside so you never have to worry emptying the tank
https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/meac ... E2EALw_wcB

Enough fannying about with a soaking bike,I've just ordered one. Ta for the tip Tricky.

Ditto, popped into the garage for the first time in weeks and everything is sodden.

[Count Steer]

Ditto, popped into the garage for the first time in weeks and everything is sodden.

Fortunately, my garage isn't sodden. I don't do anything at all to keep it that way other than stop water getting under the door, the floor is unsealed concrete*. It shares a wall with the house so there's a vague amount of heat getting in. It seems to be all about Dew Point, you can keep it warm and ventilated, you can keep it warm and unventilated, you can let it get cold and let the wind whistle through or you can try and extract all the moisture the climate has to offer. It's all a bit voodoo.

*So, I guess, absorbs moisture.

[Skub]

Ditto, popped into the garage for the first time in weeks and everything is sodden.

Fortunately, my garage isn't sodden. I don't do anything at all to keep it that way other than stop water getting under the door, the floor is unsealed concrete*. It shares a wall with the house so there's a vague amount of heat getting in. It seems to be all about Dew Point, you can keep it warm and ventilated, you can keep it warm and unventilated, you can let it get cold and let the wind whistle through or you can try and extract all the moisture the climate has to offer. It's all a bit voodoo.

*So, I guess, absorbs moisture.

In my case the danger point is a big change in temperature. For example,if it's been around 5°or 6° for a while,then suddenly we get a mild day and the temp goes up to 14°,that's when the condensation kicks in and that's when the dehumidifier needs to be on.

I've a wireless weather station in the garage which gives me the % of humidity and the ambient temperature,so I keep an eye on both.

I could just run the dehumidifier all the time,I suppose,but this method is working for me at the moment.

[Count Steer]

Ditto, popped into the garage for the first time in weeks and everything is sodden.

Fortunately, my garage isn't sodden. I don't do anything at all to keep it that way other than stop water getting under the door, the floor is unsealed concrete*. It shares a wall with the house so there's a vague amount of heat getting in. It seems to be all about Dew Point, you can keep it warm and ventilated, you can keep it warm and unventilated, you can let it get cold and let the wind whistle through or you can try and extract all the moisture the climate has to offer. It's all a bit voodoo.

*So, I guess, absorbs moisture.

In my case the danger point is a big change in temperature. For example,if it's been around 5°or 6° for a while,then suddenly we get a mild day and the temp goes up to 14°,that's when the condensation kicks in and that's when the dehumidifier needs to be on.

I've a wireless weather station in the garage which gives me the % of humidity and the ambient temperature,so I keep an eye on both.

I could just run the dehumidifier all the time,I suppose,but this method is working for me at the moment.

Yeah, I'm not saying I have the answer. I have those dehumidifier things that you put granules in in cupboards in the kitchen but really, I think I'm pissing in the wind and the problem is a) the kitchen gets humid and b ) the cupboards have doors on.

[MrLongbeard]

you can keep it warm and ventilated, you can keep it warm and unventilated, you can let it get cold and let the wind whistle through or you can try and extract all the moisture the climate has to offer. It's all a bit voodoo.

I usually let the wind blow through and use a 300w tubular heater, which always worked, knocked that on the head when the price of elastictrickery went through the roof.

Last year was a bugger with mould starting to grow on the bike and the garage not being a pleasant place to be, so this year I'm trying a dehumidifier and have gone for a ghetto solution (scaffold protection tubing) to seal up all the gaps around the garage and back door, hopefully it'll cost less to run in the long term than the heater.

PXL_20231204_113600508-EDIT by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

[Skub]

@MrLongbeard Does the Meaco drain ok when elevated? I've always just sat mine on the floor,but it makes sense to use the drain if it works ok.

I wondered too about it being as effective when raised. Still doing it's job for you?

[Rockburner]

you can keep it warm and ventilated, you can keep it warm and unventilated, you can let it get cold and let the wind whistle through or you can try and extract all the moisture the climate has to offer. It's all a bit voodoo.

I usually let the wind blow through and use a 300w tubular heater, which always worked, knocked that on the head when the price of elastictrickery went through the roof.

Last year was a bugger with mould starting to grow on the bike and the garage not being a pleasant place to be, so this year I'm trying a dehumidifier and have gone for a ghetto solution (scaffold protection tubing) to seal up all the gaps around the garage and back door, hopefully it'll cost less to run in the long term than the heater.

PXL_20231204_113600508-EDIT by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

I've been using a de-humidifier in mine for several months and as far as I can see: it's bitterly cold in there, but dry as a bone and no mould. Because it's so dry it doesn't actually feel that cold.

I think it helps that I've sealed the inner walls with a double coat of paint (just emulsion iirc), and treated the outsides well (it's a kiln-dried wooden shed)

[Rockburner]

@MrLongbeard Does the Meaco drain ok when elevated? I've always just sat mine on the floor,but it makes sense to use the drain if it works ok.

I wondered too about it being as effective when raised. Still doing it's job for you?

Why would being raised up affect it?

They drain into their own container (unless Mr.L has modified it)

[mangocrazy]

@MrLongbeard Does the Meaco drain ok when elevated? I've always just sat mine on the floor,but it makes sense to use the drain if it works ok.

I wondered too about it being as effective when raised. Still doing it's job for you?

Why would being raised up affect it?

They drain into their own container (unless Mr.L has modified it)

You've got the option of using the internal container (which only holds a couple of litres) and having to empty it regularly or use the supplied drain hose and route that to a larger container or a drain if one is convenient. I tend to use a 25 litre container that was previously used to ferment industrial quantities of wine. It takes a week or three to fill up and you have as much distilled water as you could possibly want.

[MrLongbeard]

@MrLongbeard Does the Meaco drain ok when elevated? I've always just sat mine on the floor, but it makes sense to use the drain if it works ok.

I wondered too about it being as effective when raised. Still doing it's job for you?

It only went in at lunch time today, so will have to wait and see.
The book of destructions states to have the internal drain point higher than the end of the tube, this set up is just me giving it some height to hopefully ensure it has enough fall to work as I CBA with emptying the tank a couple of times a day, I'll report back if it dose / doesn't work

Why would being raised up affect it?

They drain into their own container (unless Mr.L has modified it)

This either drains to onboard container or you attach an 8mm tube to the drain point which makes it an external drain, no modification necessary

[Rockburner]

Mine is only a 2 or 3 litre container but it takes about a week to fill it.