For those of you with heated garages is moisture a problem?

[thinmyster]

Is moisture a problem? We are looking to add a Cal 40 radiant heater but I'm worried moisture will be more of a problem than its worth.

I just finished polying, insulating and drywalling my attached garage. Only thing left to do is blown in insulation in the roof mud/tape and add a heater.

I've read differing opinions on polying the roof to allow vapour to escape. (we have a bungalow with attic space above) The roof is poly'd.

No drains in the garage

Garage will be used mostly for storing out DD and occasional work.

Thanks

[jonnycat]

I have two shitty vents waiting to be replaced, that allow snow in. The heater does warm it up enought to melt and has casue water stains on my garage ceiling. But without those shitty vents you'll be golden. my ceiling is poly'd aswell

[eblend]

mine is poly'd as well but I only have a small built in electrical heater that i use only when I am in the garage and working on the car, but all other times it's turned off. With the insulation it's about 12-15 degrees warmer than the outside, so I don't bother with the heater ever otherwise. Mine is detached, yours is attached, so imagine yours will be warm enough as is, ofcourse depending on what you are planning to do in the garage.

Here is my small heater, to the right of the door

http://www.eblend.ca/Dima/House/i-9s2hThH/0/2003x1127/20140914_191244-2003x1127.jpg

[tch7]

Mine hovers around 15 degrees during the winter. Has a built-in space heater that I sometimes turn on, but as it's the bottom level of my townhouse, next to the furnace room, and well sealed, it stays warm regardless.

The floor gets plenty wet, but it dries up pretty quick and there are no signs of any moisture problems, though I have no idea where the moisture is going. Kilz'd & painted it this summer, so now it's just like the rest of my interior.

By contrast, my parent's replaced their 30-year old garage door last winter for their unheated attached garage with attic. The improved seal of the door trapped all the meltwater and within a month black mold was popping up all over the drywall.

[Zorac]

I have high moisture issues in my garage in the winter, I use a hydroponics fan and ducting now to keep it dry.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Zorac
I have high moisture issues in my garage in the winter, I use a hydroponics fan and ducting now to keep it dry.

Can you post a link to this fan? I get high humidity in my attached but non-heated garage.

[eblend]

I have one of these as well in my garage, it does an okay job at drying up the floor, but it's on 24/7 pretty much in the winter as it doesn't have that good of a cfm, but is an all in one unit.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Heating-Ventilation-Cooling-Home-Comfort/Home-Comfort/Dehumidifiers/Permanent-Mount/Garage-Unit-Air-Extractor-Dehumidifier/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I3824952?Ntt=dehumidifier

For my parents place I did one better and installed a much bigger fan, got this one:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0002YTNB6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and tied it to this:

http://www.rona.ca/en/dehumidistat

Automatically turns on when detects a set humidity and runs until it drops.

[Zorac]

i bought this one (6"):

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/4-6-8-10-12-inch-Hydroponic-Inline-Duct-Fan-Exhaust-Blower-Vent-/271030111396?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item3f1aa74ca4

with the optional variable speed controller. i run it on low, unless im painting, then i run it on high. probably could of used a 4" i went to home depot and bought a dryer vent to go though the wall and added a auto closing (spring loaded) vent to the roof (just into the attic) for fresh air.

was thinking of doing the dehumidifier like eblend linked to, but wasn't sure if it would work, might have to follow up on that now! specifically this one as I need one with a 110v relay.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-Mechanical-Hygrostat-MFR012-High-switching-capacity-hygrostats/1427154444.html

[CapnCrunch]

I don't remember having moisture issues in my old garage and it was sealed up tight. Calgary is one of the driest places on earth.

[tsi_neal]

With a properly ducted radiant heater moisture shouldn't be a problem, pull in from the garage and vent outside. Every time the unit runs there should be enough exchange air to dry things out.

My old setup was a finished detached garage with electric heat, I had to have a dehumidifier running full time to keep the moisture in check. I kept the garage at 5* unless I was in it working, then up to about 15*. The year before I got a dehumidifier the moisture was annoying and likely not doing any favours towards rust. When I turned up the heat cool metal surfaces would get condensation, ie all my tools.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
I don't remember having moisture issues in my old garage and it was sealed up tight. Calgary is one of the driest places on earth.

:werd: With the door opening and closing, and the fact that garage doors are never sealed all that well against the frame, you should never have moisture issues here. Unless you leave your car outside, it snows 20", then you decide to park it inside to dry off, lol.

[88CRX]

I had moisture issues in my detached, unheated, insulated garage so I installed the vent unit from Home Hardware... mine also runs all the time in the winter but works great to dry things up.

[bspot]

Originally posted by eblend
I have one of these as well in my garage, it does an okay job at drying up the floor, but it's on 24/7 pretty much in the winter as it doesn't have that good of a cfm, but is an all in one unit.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Heating-Ventilation-Cooling-Home-Comfort/Home-Comfort/Dehumidifiers/Permanent-Mount/Garage-Unit-Air-Extractor-Dehumidifier/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I3824952?Ntt=dehumidifier

For my parents place I did one better and installed a much bigger fan, got this one:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0002YTNB6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and tied it to this:

http://www.rona.ca/en/dehumidistat

Automatically turns on when detects a set humidity and runs until it drops.

I run that 509 as well.

The only time it won't work is when outside humidity is really high (when a big melt is occurring). Otherwise my tools are rusting much slower than previously :rofl: