Managing Temp and Humidity with Automation

[pbsled]

This winter I have been using my camper on occasion for a nice home office in the yard by running the furnace for quick heat up and then small space heater as needed. However, it generally stays winterized. Our climate here is a challenge for campers as the temperature fluctuates drastically and it rains all the time. 60" last year and 117" the year before that. So as you can image preventing mildew in the camper is a chore.

This fall I installed a temp / humidity sensor in the rear bath (Aoetec 5-in 1) that is tied to my home automation system (Nexia). I have things set right now to run the humidifier in the rear bath for 180 min anytime the humidity is above 50% for more than 10 min. Many days it does not cycle at all, but on rainy days, or days when it warms up rapidly, it can run 1 or 2 cycles per day at least.

I am curious as to what the rest of you do (if anything) to try and climate control your Avion's when not in constant use. I have some data below that I pulled from the system from the last couple of days just to illustrate the kind of temperature and humidity swings, and you can see the occasions when the de-humidifer (or me in the camper running the heater) knocks down the humidity.

[KYAvion]

The numbers on your graph don’t look too bad to me. I guess I expected the humidity to spike much more than it has. I suppose that may be a function of your dehumidifier, in which case it’s doing a fantastic job. What type of dehumidifier are you using? One with a condenser?

I use our Avion quite a bit during the winter as well, but our winters are generally pretty mild. We do have quite a bit of rain though. While I have a marine dehumidifier from when I had our prior Airstream (left it running when unoccupied in the late spring, summer, early fall), I haven’t found it necessary to use in the Avion. My Airstream would have a musty smell in summer if I didn’t run the dehumidifier, but I’ve never experienced that with our Avion. Looking back, I think my Airstream had a water leak I never found. As far as condensation, there was once when we were in the Avion during single digit temps over a long weekend and there was some condensation inside, but most of the time I don’t experience any problems. I suppose this is because the coldest nights we experience are usually in the teens or twenties.

I have known Airstreamers to experience issues with condensation in even 40-50 degree temps, which I imagine is a result of the poorly insulated fiberglass walls.

[pbsled]

Thanks - that is helpful info. I think I will keep running it like have been for over 50% humidity and try and track some cycle numbers and get a picture of the cost. It’s certainly worth it to keep it from getting musty again.

Not much camper work going on with me this month, but I have another trip planned with it in late February so I might make a list or two. I will have to do a post on some clearance light gasket repair I need to do, which was a leak I discovered recently.