Gerry underwood Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 We have a bit of an issue with stuff stored under beds getting a bit damp. We do not have radiators and our sole source of heat is the wood burner. Any good prevention ideas?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 (edited) We use vacuum bags if not using the 'stored stuff' frequently (or 'shutting up for winter') Plastic bags with a valve, fill bag with 'stuff', close bag' attach vacuum cleaner, suck out all the air, stuff goes 'very flat' and remains dry & mould free all Winter. Edited December 28, 2019 by Alan de Enfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 The bags from Poundland don't work very well as within a week air has leaked back in. Pay 'decent' money for a 'decent' bag. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted December 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 We made the mistake of getting cheap ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 Just now, Gerry underwood said: We made the mistake of getting cheap ones. That's how I know !!!! The ones at £4-£5 each seem OK and say 'vacuumed' "Buy right and buy once" Should have learned that long ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Lowe Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 You could also try using camping dry sacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said: The bags from Poundland don't work very well as within a week air has leaked back in. Pay 'decent' money for a 'decent' bag. If you can point me to a reliable make I would appreciate it, you can also buy expensive crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Lowe Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 They all leak air in the end but the JML ones aren't too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said: If you can point me to a reliable make I would appreciate it, you can also buy expensive crap. I'm not sure, the Finance Director ended up buying them - I'm of the mind they were from Argos and £10 for 2x Extra large. They seem to stay air-tight over Winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Sam Posted December 29, 2019 Report Share Posted December 29, 2019 Ventilation will avoid damp providing you are not reintroducing water vapour by drying clothes or breathing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackrose Posted December 29, 2019 Report Share Posted December 29, 2019 Yes, if you pack stuff away tightly in unventilated spaces it can act as a cold mass and attract condensation. Either don't store so much stuff under there or ventilate the space, or preferably both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drayke Posted December 29, 2019 Report Share Posted December 29, 2019 On 28/12/2019 at 14:54, Gerry underwood said: We have a bit of an issue with stuff stored under beds getting a bit damp. We do not have radiators and our sole source of heat is the wood burner. Any good prevention ideas?? We had this same problem so put some carpet on the floor under the bed curing the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) having tried several cheaper vacuum bags which didn't work very well, we bought a couple from Lakeland and they were great - for a while! We use the bags for taking stuff to and from the boat but after a few trips, the bags start to reinflate. Contacted lakeland who told us that the bags are designed for a few uses and not for the way we were using them. The lakeland bags sat inside a fabric box shape which zipped shut and there were straps inside for tightening when the bag was deflated. With the straps on and the bag zipped, even if the vacuum bag leaked it couldn't get much bigger so it was still useful for our purpose. haggis Just looked at the Lakeland web site and they have some good offers on vacuum bags just now. Edited December 30, 2019 by haggis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilllearning Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) On 28/12/2019 at 15:54, Gerry underwood said: We have a bit of an issue with stuff stored under beds getting a bit damp. We do not have radiators and our sole source of heat is the wood burner. Any good prevention ideas?? Improve the ventilation perhaps with an eco fan or equivalent, and look at fitting radiators in the future, it was the only real solution I ever found. A stove with backboiler will transform the boat, and your comfort too. The problem you have at the moment is the differing temperatures in the boat, and damp will always congregate where the temperature is lowest. Even warmth throughout is the answer, easy to say not so easy to accomplish. Edited December 30, 2019 by Stilllearning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted December 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 Cheers for the great replays. Would a small electric heater help cure the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 4 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: Cheers for the great replays. Would a small electric heater help cure the problem? Are you connected to mains electric / shoreline ? If so - I have a couple of 375w greenhouse heaters on timers with one on most of the time and at the coldest parts of the night both come on. They are principally to stop the water systems freezing up. Cost £1.08 per day to run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 We have a shore line. I was thinking of getting a 400watt heater with a timer for the master bedroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 11 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: We have a shore line. I was thinking of getting a 400watt heater with a timer for the master bedroom. One year I tried a 500w oil filled radiator but found that in fact it was insufficient to actually generate any 'heat' in the boat as the heat losses must have been 500w or greater so it was running but 'leaking' the heat out of the boat via windows, doors, vents etc. I'm not sure that it would help a great deal with getting the boat warm enough to reduce condensation, and, if it did, as soon as the timer clicked 'off' the air would cool and you'd be back to warm air cooling and condensing on the windows etc. The answer is try it and see - it may do what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicknorman Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Our boat stays in the marina with no-one on board for a fair bit of the winter. First year, we just ventilated it well, but things got damp, cupboard doors etc swelled. So we got a dehumidifier (desiccant type) and now leave that on (draining into the sink), closing all windows and taping up vents, leaving cupboard doors ajar. Works really well, everything is bone dry in the spring. The device has a “humidistat” so that when the relative humidity falls to 50%, it shuts off and doesn’t come back on until the RH rises again. So it uses about £3 of electricity per week. Your situation is slight different I think, in that you are on the boat all year? But even so, it might be better to extract the water vapour rather that heating to prevent that vapour from condensing on the cold spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilllearning Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Since you are on shore power, you have options. Either, as Nick says, use a dehumidifier or as you suggest, use a small electric heater. It will come down to a decision based on your preferences and lifestyle. Having said that, in my experience warmth and dryness trumps any worries over cost, because once one thinks of all that condensation sitting on the expensive steelwork, then the need to dry the boat thoroughly and permanently becomes an overriding concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 1 hour ago, nicknorman said: Our boat stays in the marina with no-one on board for a fair bit of the winter. First year, we just ventilated it well, but things got damp, cupboard doors etc swelled. So we got a dehumidifier (desiccant type) and now leave that on (draining into the sink), closing all windows and taping up vents, leaving cupboard doors ajar. Works really well, everything is bone dry in the spring. The device has a “humidistat” so that when the relative humidity falls to 50%, it shuts off and doesn’t come back on until the RH rises again. So it uses about £3 of electricity per week. Your situation is slight different I think, in that you are on the boat all year? But even so, it might be better to extract the water vapour rather that heating to prevent that vapour from condensing on the cold spots. We are not indeed on board all year. We will be looking at ways to extract vapour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machpoint005 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 22 hours ago, Stilllearning said: On 28/12/2019 at 14:54, Gerry underwood said: Improve the ventilation perhaps with an eco fan ROFL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 43 minutes ago, Stilllearning said: Since you are on shore power, you have options. Either, as Nick says, use a dehumidifier or as you suggest, use a small electric heater. It will come down to a decision based on your preferences and lifestyle. Having said that, in my experience warmth and dryness trumps any worries over cost, because once one thinks of all that condensation sitting on the expensive steelwork, then the need to dry the boat thoroughly and permanently becomes an overriding concern. A small heater will be ordered. Piece of mind is a valuable thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard10002 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 32 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: A small heater will be ordered. Piece of mind is a valuable thing. I have a computer fan at the front of the boat which sucks air from the cabin into the bilge, and a similar fan under the fridge which sucks air from the bilge. The fans are connected to the water pump and fridge supply so are on 24/7 when on board. i am presuming that this keeps a flow going all the time, as well as cooling the area around the fridge a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanessa1402 Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 On 30/12/2019 at 09:41, haggis said: having tried several cheaper vacuum bags which didn't work very well, we bought a couple from Lakeland and they were great - for a while! We use the bags for taking stuff to and from the boat but after a few trips, the bags start to reinflate. Contacted lakeland who told us that the bags are designed for a few uses and not for the way we were using them. The lakeland bags sat inside a fabric box shape which zipped shut and there were straps inside for tightening when the bag was deflated. With the straps on and the bag zipped, even if the vacuum bag leaked it couldn't get much bigger so it was still useful for our purpose. haggis Just looked at the Lakeland web site and they have some good offers on vacuum bags just now. Do things come out terribly creased? Noticed they do hanging bags that would be great in the wardrobe but not very convenient if things come out needing tons of ironing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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