Ventilation/avoiding Condensation - Question About

[Darral T.]

I agree 100% with Wendy. Whether I'm camping or whether I'm parked and on jack stands, I keep my vent cracked along with the bathroom and kitchen window. 5+ years and counting with NO mold problems.

If I camp it's all electric so I dont use a furnace-- didnt even order one. Heat will bring on condensation more in the winter. From what I hear, the gas is the worst....especially down in the 30's and below where it requires more heat.

Personally, I dont camp below 40 or above 90 F so that makes me a "Fair Weather Scamper" . Oh and I have used my generator and it's perfect use of a FG rv if that's what you enjoy.

Originally Posted by CampyTime

I keep fantastic fan lid cracked open a bit all the time also, except when towing. My last trip the weather was so cold, constant non stop rain, using furnace....the dampness in the trailer was hard to dissipate as conditions simply wouldn't allow.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[John Linck]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

From what I hear, the gas is the worst....especially down in the 30's and below where it requires more heat.

Darral,

I don't understand how a sealed combustion furnace can increase humidity levels in a camper. Catalytic yes, sealed combustion no. Combustion does make water, but the furnace fan pushes this to the outside. If any moisture is leaking in you have more serious problems with carbon monoxide, etc. OTOH catalytic heaters leave all the moisture/fumes inside your rig.

Warmer indoor temperatures create a chimney effect with warm air flowing out the ceiling vent carrying moisture and odors with it. Works even better with a kitchen window cracked as well. The larger the temperature delta (warmer inside/cooler outside) the more this flow increases. This silent convection costs a bit in propane but is well worth it to us. Now if only we could buy a gravity furnace to replace the Suburban furnace and its bothersome fan noise.

We often camp below 40 degrees and often turn off the furnace or keep the thermostat at about 50 degrees inside the rig. The down quilt keeps us quite snug. The only downside are the chilly mid-night scampers to the bathroom. I can move pretty fast then. ;-)

One downside to our small rigs is their propensity to hold odors from cooking, breathing, candles, gaseous emissions , etc. Their small interior volume increases this problem. Ventilation and lots of it is the best remedy.

John

[Linda Stewart]

Hi John, great explanation!
We are in the Algonquin Highlands right now and it has been raining for a few days. Last night temp was around 9C. With two people and two dogs and only one window cracked, no heat on, the condensation was very apparent.

My partner is insisting we plug in the oil filled electric heater and I believe he is correct.

I will definitely keep the roof vent cracked from now on. It is solar powered.

I too have a nice eiderdown quilt and don't even know its cold but when scampering to the bathroom, I'll think of you.��

Linda

[Darral T.]

I agree with you John. What I think happens is, some get it SO warm in the small trailers that it automatically causes more condensation. I DO know we had "gas" heat growing up. Of course those old heaters were ventilated, but water would literally POUR off the windows in our house. Not so with my house where I have central. But as you say, it's sealed to the outside and not actually burning flames in the house.

Now a gas stove top in a 13' Scamp? No. I removed mine and went electric. I left the pan so I can take it back to factory stock when I sell it. But it was AWFUL trying to cook in there with the propane...vents or no vents.

Here's how I handled leaving the pan in my Scamp after the stove removal:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/503516...57652349079760

[DogHaus]

don't know what you have for windows, but the WindowMaxx window louvers have been very helpful in my Scamp, allowing me to leave windows partially open w/o rain coming in. I leave the roof vent cracked open as much as I can without the rain coming in too. When I store my Scamp (New England - humid summers) I have a small Eva-Dry dehumidifier running inside it. Makes a HUGE difference in drying it out between Scampouts.

[DogHaus]

I was talking to the original poster.