Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Any body have any secrets about dealing with condensation. We were in Yellow Stone, Montana, Iowa and Minnesota last week and it was wet and cold and the condensation was pretty bad on the upper walls and the aluminum windows and trim. Even with the heater on it was just as bad. Any suggestions would be great.

Did you crack your roof vent? Both windows cracked a couple of inches? (I looked through your build log and found it quite remarkable).

I know it must have been chilly but even when it's cold, our roof vent is open a couple of inches and the same with the windows. And no condensation.

Tony

Condensation happens when air cools and becomes over-saturated. Water is wrung out of it like a sponge. Heating the air helps, certainly. But there's a catch: You sweat and breathe out moisture, so if you don't allow fresh air inside - which brings in more water-soaked air, unfortunately - then you still humidify the air and cause condensation.

That's why defogging a windshield can be such a darn pain.

So your best bet is to keep the interior air as warm as you can and allow in a small, steady stream of air to carry away humidity. Like Tony said, crack open a roof vent. In some cases, you might be better off running a powered fan.

If that's not working ... well, sometimes Mother Nature just doesn't cooperate :p

You can also buy a moisture absorbent like Damprid.

Interesting that the condensation formed on the upper walls, though. Are your walls skeletonized or stick-framed? Those wall designs tend to allow condensation much faster than a true foam-core wall.

I will, from experience agree with ventilation, crack the vent and open a window a bit. Dehumidifiers are basically meant for a closed volume with out moisture producers inside as they have too little capacity. We have two silicone gel dehumidifiers with built in 120AC heaters to renew them, they work but very little capacity.

We boondock year round in a 6x12 Aluma ct. I installed two 30x36 aluminum thermopane rv windows and a rv side door with aluminum frame. I had a lot of condensation on the aluminum frames in temps below ~50 f. Never again, my next ct when my wife retires; I will build my own wood windows and door. Until then, I cut Luan and sealed it with a water base sealer. Then spread an even coat of clear silicon on the back side and glued that to all the exposed aluminum. NO MORE CONDENSATION! There is some between the door and sill, but I can't do much about that. When we camp in weather below zero and my wife likes it at 68 inside, we had a towel just for condensation. We would hang it outside during the day to dry.