Storage Room

[Meanaspie]

Hi Guys,

About to move house and I have a storage room under the stairs marked for as a storage/drying room for my gear. Now the room has no ventilation, that combined with wet gear is not a good combination. Anyone have a similar setup - if so what was the solution? I'm guessing I'll likely need a dehumidifier to deal with the moisture?

 

[kelemvor]

An electric dehumidifier in a small room will do the trick. I use one to dry my gear. Keep in mind that the dehumidifier will make the room very warm. It might make your A/C run slightly longer if you open the door and let the heat out.

Also you will ideally want to set up a drain pipe for your dehumidifier. Mine will fill the bucket about every 8 hours if it is run on the "constant on" setting. Usually it takes roughly 18 hours to dry stuff if you hang it correctly.

When I travel, I bring chemical dehumidifiers (damp rid) and set up a closet in my room as a drying closet. Those work well too, but if you used them at home they would probably get expensive quickly. I did this in Cozumel, Mexico and Roatan, Honduras with great results - my gear was dry every morning.

 

[tbone1004]

be VERY careful with what gear you put in with a humidifier. Most of them put out some sort of ozone which will degrade wetsuits and drysuits fairly quickly *still last a few years, but it will be noticeable acceleration of degradation.

 

[2airishuman]

Dry your gear first, and replace the door to your closet with one that allows good ventilation -- louvers, grids, etc.

 

[kelemvor]

be VERY careful with what gear you put in with a humidifier. Most of them put out some sort of ozone which will degrade wetsuits and drysuits fairly quickly *still last a few years, but it will be noticeable acceleration of degradation.

Interesting. Do you have any reading materials on the subject?

 

[Damselfish]

If at all possible I would dry gear before storing it someplace like that. We actually have something maybe similar, a big weirdly shaped closet under some stairs where all our gear and luggage lives. I wouldn't dream of trying to dry my gear in there even with a dehumidifier setup.

 

[BoltSnap]

I lived for a while in small apartments, I let my dive equipment dry in the kitchen or bathroom overnight and then stored away.

 

[Rred]

There are several different kinds of "dehumidifiers". The one commonly used in basements is actually a small refrigerator. It pumps freon [sic] through coils to make them cold, just like an air conditioner or fridge. The humid air is blown over the coils, condensate forms, and all you have to do is drain the water out someplace.

Those produce no ozone or exhaust, just a stream of water.

There are also simple dehumidifers like the "Goldenrod" which is simply a gently heated "rod" that you put on a closet floor. The rod produces heat, the heat dries out the air and keeps it dry, gently. This is NOT a "heater", there's no comparable fire risk. Cheap--but not as powerful as the condensor kind.

If the house has central air/heating, you might also consider putting in a louvered door, or a punched out sjeet metal panel. Both commonly used to make sure closets get ventilation and stay dry, in warmer locales or aboard boats.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There are several different kinds of "dehumidifiers". The one commonly used in basements is actually a small refrigerator. It pumps freon [sic] through coils to make them cold, just like an air conditioner or fridge. The humid air is blown over the coils, condensate forms, and all you have to do is drain the water out someplace.

Those produce no ozone or exhaust, just a stream of water.

If it has an electric motor, it produces ozone, as far as I'm aware. Maybe some modern motors don't, but old fridges certainly do. That's why it has long been said that if you have a chest freezer in your garage, it's best not to store scuba gear there.

 

[rhwestfall]

If it has an electric motor, it produces ozone

+1

if you have a chest freezer in your garage, it's best not to store scuba gear there

however, storing it in the chest freezer that is in the garage could be a good option....