Condensation

[acsnook]

Recently camped in our Thor ACE when the outside temps were in the 40's. We showered in the comfort station to avoid any unnecessary moisture build-up in our rig and still woke up with the windows dripping with water. Should we leave a vent cracked open or use Damp-Rid? I would greatly appreciate any tips on how to reduce/eliminate this from happening again. Many thanks..

[JamieGeek]

When camping in really cold weather it is advisable to crack a window or one of the roof vents.
Most of your humidity is from breathing--humans exhale a ton of moisture. In a small enclosed space such as a camper in colder weather that extra humidity has no place to go and condenses on the cold surfaces (e.g. windows).
About 400ml of water per day is lost per person:
https://www.quora.com/How-much-water...ough-breathing

If you plan to camp a lot in colder weather you could also pick up a portable dehumidifier: Portable Humidifier

[Beacher]

When camping in freezing weather it's best to have an external roof vented fan, (A Fantastic Fan on low for example), and another internal fan on to circulate air within the RV.

My family and I love Alpine skiing and have always used our RVs as our little portable snow chalets. We camp when there is snow in the Eastern High Sierras and in the local Southern California mountains. It's been as cold as -15F degrees.

I moved to motorhomes from PopUp trailers. In between I have had TTs and 5th wheel trailers. They all require the same ventilation to prevent condensation.

You have not experienced the FUN of frozen condensation until you have slept and then woken up in an improperly vented PopUp, (if you're not familiar with them, they are a tent on a trailer box). That's when all of the interior walls of the tent turn completely solid from ice!!

I'll admit that it's anti-intuitive to vent your RV when the weather is freezing. Most people completely seal every single hole and orifice in their RV! That's no good for condensation. You need to run your furnace, and or supplemental heaters to maintain a comfortable living environment, while actively venting and circulating air.

With as many as four people in our motorhome living and sleeping, it would take pallets of DampRid pellets for a typical weekend, or two large noisy de-humidifiers to capture the moisture of only our breath. Then, if you factor in cooking and bathing, that's even more moisture! Not practical.

Last summer I installed three Fantastic Fan vent covers over all of my vents so that I can leave them WIDE OPEN when were are out skiing, (the thermostat is set at 40F degrees)! That ensures that the motorhome is completely dry when we return.

BTW, I use a portable Olympian Wave 8 catalytic heater when we are in, (that MUST be vented anyway because it produces condensation). It maintains the desired comfort once the main furnace has quickly warmed things up. It keeps the motorhome dry, very comfortable and toasty, and completely condensation free while being very efficient with propane, all with one Fantastic Vent on low constantly running. There is also a Fantastic Fan 12v Endless Breeze fan on my dashboard constantly circulating the warm air.

My fresh water tank, (under my bed), and plumbing are all located within the living space so no worries about freezing. And my holding tanks have heater pads. No "winterizing" for this Southern California motorhome that's used all year long.