Dehumidification and ventillation

[petem]

Perhaps a bit late to mention this but nevermind.

Folks on this frum always stress that to avoid mould you must dehumidify and ventilate, which I assume people read as, leave some hatches open. Surely this defeats the object of dehumidifying (as Nick2) points out below (you end up trying to dehumidify the planet)? Would it not be better to close all external hatches and then dehumidify? Obviously you'd want to leave all internal doors and hatches open to allow the air to circulate.

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[sailorman]

if u dont leave locker & other doors open u risk the chance of doors "bowing / cupping" due to the differential levels each is of the doors.

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[steverow]

Keeping anything free of damp really consists of three elements.

1. Remove as much moisture from the air as you can,

2. Keep that air at a reasonable temperature (but not too warm)

3. Keep the air moving around.

So if you use a dehumidifier, also use say a 200watt plate heater in the lowest part of the accommodation, and a fan high up in the saloon that comes on on a timer about every fifteen minutes,
You will then be moving your warmer air around the boat, which will stop droplets of moisture settling on anything ie brassware and causing tarnishing.
I dont think there's any need to provide additional ventilation over and above what is already there on the boat anyway. The idea is to keep your warm air in the boat
but replenish it enough not to go stale.
With this combination its not really essential to open every locker in sight unless it contains bedding or clothes. Keep anything like this away from the hull sides anyway.
This theory has worked well for us over twenty five years first in caravans, and more recently on boats.
You should have seen the size of the Dehumid unit we had 20 years ago!!

Steve.




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