Sweating tractors

Tom R S · Mar 27, 2012

Its that time of year when the days warm up quick and sure enough your nice restored tractors get all moist as the warm humid air condences on the cold steel.
Running a dehumidifier gets expensive just to keep things from getting moist or moldy, in storage sheds or basements.
Anybody know of a cheaper way to keep the humidity down?

Janicholson · Mar 27, 2012

Move to a dry climate. Seriously, keeping the building warm, or insulated and earth burmed (warm) is about the only other way. THere are other methods, all more expensive. Jim

Russ from MN · Mar 27, 2012

Putting plastic under the floor helps quite a bit,and ventilation.

Paul from MI · Mar 27, 2012

Ventilate as best you can, at least it dries out quicker. Otherwise the solutions aren't cheap.

showcrop · Mar 27, 2012

The only way is to warm them up before the humid air comes in.

Texasmark1 · Mar 27, 2012

If you have a mass at a temperature colder than the ambient air and there is any water in it (relative humidity something greater than 0%) the cooler mass will condense the water in the atmosphere on it's surface.

Look at a glass of iced tea sitting on your kitchen table at lunch. Sweating? Wouldn't be if it were a cup of hot coffee.

Mark

Anonymous-0 · Mar 27, 2012

Maybe a window on the sunny side of the shop will help.

Walt Davies · Mar 27, 2012

Move to Oregon, it's so wet here that we just live with it.
Walt

luv2wrench · Mar 28, 2012

i posted a comment about my shop the other day about it getting moist in there and wet concete. I keep the door open all weekend to get the cold outta the building and now i leave the 20x16 door about 2-3 inches open now. lets air in at the bottom and top.

NO MORE WATER OR SMELL. Like the advise i got, get the temps equal to warm up the tractors and get some air MOVING in there. Winter time i had no issues of course.

ss55 · Mar 28, 2012

Constant ventilation reduces the large temperature differences that can cause sweating. If your shed is fairly air tight, try to avoid opening the shed doors on days when the outside air's dewpoint is above the temperature inside the shed. Wait for days when the outside air is dryer before opening the doors to warm the shed and it's concrete floors.

Basements are difficult to dry in humid weather because the ground keeps basement temperatures in the 60F's. An air exchanger may be less expensive to run than a de-humidifier if you don't run the air exchanger when the outside air's dewpoint is higher than the basement temperature.

A old neighbor who had a summer job with an insurance company as a travelling storm damage clains adjustor told me that a home's central air conditioner is the largest and most efficient de-humidifier you can ever use if you need to dry out a wet house in a hurry.

Good luck.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 28, 2012

I keep a cheep floor fan running and my cellar stays really nice. joe-

Bill(Wis) · Mar 28, 2012

A properly designed and constructed building will prevent condensation problems. A fully vented ridge with vented soffets in a building that is large enough to begin with will be all you need. A black roof is a tremendous help to get air flowing up and out. If you already have a building that is not properly vented then add on cupolas with exhaust fans with humidistats will be a big help.

Sweating tractors

Tom R S

Member

Janicholson

Well-known Member

Russ from MN

Well-known Member

Paul from MI

Well-known Member

showcrop

Well-known Member

Texasmark1

Well-known Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

Walt Davies

Well-known Member

luv2wrench

Member

ss55

Well-known Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

Bill(Wis)

Well-known Member

Similar threads