By Cheri Sicard
The video below is much needed as it addresses a conundrum most RVers face at one time or another: How to stop condensation in an RV. Preventing condensation is vitally important to prevent both water damage and mold.
One of our reader’s favorite RV vloggers, Jared Gillis from All About RVs, is here to help in the video below where he shares his best RV condensation prevention tips.
Jared says that RV condensation can be a much bigger problem than most people realize. You can often see it on windows or around doors, but it’s important to note that it is also often in hidden places.
Jared says it’s important to attack the problem of RV condensation on multiple levels.
In the video, Jared talks about four different dehumidifying solutions, but he also says that for them to work properly, you need to start from a position of strength to begin with.
Warm air, taking showers, cooking, and even people breathing, all add moisture to the air, especially when the temperature is cooler outside.
Tips to minimize RV condensation
- Always open the vent and turn on the fan when showering. This makes a HUGE difference, as Jared illustrates in the video.
- The same goes for cooking. Crack open a vent and even turn on the vent fan to get as much moisture out of the rig as possible.
- Don’t leave standing water around. For instance, wipe down the shower after using it and get the wet rag out of the RV as the water in it will evaporate into the air.
Once those strategies are in place, you can also implement a dehumidifier. Jared looks at four different types in the video, so be sure to watch and see his results of how much water different sizes and brands of dehumidifiers took out of the air. He used a small-sized dehumidifier, a larger size, and the RV’s AC unit which has a built-in dehumidifier. He also included the low-tech Damp Rid in his tests.
Watch the video for the results, but for each of his four tests, Jared duplicated the same conditions and measured the amount of humidity pulled out of the air, the amount of wattage it took to do it, and the weight of the dehumidifier itself.
After the tests, Jared talks about a few other factors that can influence RV condensation:
- While Reflectix sheets over your RV windows can provide good insulation against cold or heat, they can also trap condensation.
- Lack of air movement can cause RV condensation to accumulate. Jared recommends using a small fan to move the air around where this might happen.
- Consider a breathable pad that goes under your RV mattress in order to promote air movement. Mattresses that sit directly on platforms can accumulate condensation and grow mold. It’s a hazardous waste nightmare when this happens.
- Choose a heat source that doesn’t add moisture to the RV. Jared gives details in the video. While your furnace should be OK, know that indoor propane heaters such as the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy do produce some moisture you will need to compensate for.
Do you have other tips to prevent condensation in RVs? Be sure to drop them in the comments below.
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RV south of I-10 in AZ, NM, or CA! Humidity <25%, warm Nov.-Apr. temps, and any condensation on cool nights evaporates after sunrise. We have never had mildew or mold in any of our three RVs even when at home in Colorado.
Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 Well, it isn’t a tip that can be used by many otbers, but we use our heated floors to reduce the use of the forced-air heating provided by our diesel boiler (Oasis, but also true of AquaHot). Aside from those, we have a small electric ceramic heater that can heat small parts of the RV in a pinch. Safe travels! 🙂
I keep a very small electric dehumidifier running inside at home, and it gathers quite a bit. It’s needed in the Northwest. I empty it every month or so. For my trips, I don’t worry about it much, crack a window and open top vent, open up in the morning to air out. I tried rechargeable things like Eva-Dry; they don’t last. DampRid is sticky, you wouldn’t want to spill it, and you have to dump it somewhere.