from another angle, dry heat is wonderful also. fireplaces and wood burning stoves really dry our basements...but i know this does nothing for you on warm summer days. just another way to look at the problem
If you can't get a decent dehumidifier maybe you can use stainless steel track, or some other type of track that don't rust as easy. Also have to keep things oiled a little more than normal to keep rust down to a minimum.
I live in south Florida and the whole house can become very humid, almost as humid as a basement up north, so for me keeping the air conditioner turned on a little higher keeps some moisture out.
Lee F.
I have a basement layout in the Southeast. It can get pretty humid down there. I am in an unfinished basement with painted floors and walls. I try to keep the humidity at around 55%. I have not experienced any rust or effects of excess humidity in over three years now. Suring the winter months, my dehumidifier seldom runs but in the summer, it is almost continuous.
I had a basement layout , a variety of them,for years. The basements I had were unfinished. This is in Wisconsin and Illinois. A dehumidifier needs to be kept clean, especially the coils, or it will over cycle leading to premature burn out. Another issue is humidity from sumps, condensation from pipes etc, which can add to a higher level of humidity. I sealed the sump well with caulking intended to be temporary that peels away easily, as well as insulating the cw pipes. Another is hydraulic seepage from basement walls, I coated mine with a sealer. All of this helped keep the basement "reasonable." I also piped the humidifier discharge directly into the sump, as it occurred to me I was simply gathering more moisture in the receiver, not getting rid of it. For what its worth.
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Little Tommy......my experience has been that the premature burn out of the unit occurs when I get overzealous and try to lower the relative humidity beyond what is reasonable, practical, and necessary to maintain a corrosive-free train environment. It doesn't have to be like the Mojave desert down there. I live in the Northeast, so my outdoor ambient humidity swings might be quite different from yours; and my outdoor rainfall heavier or lighter. Summary: I like to keep the % around 35-40% down there and only have the humidistat set where it can keep it down around that level, not less. If the humidity drops lower than that unassisted (does here sometimes in the Winter), great! Others may have a different opinion and experience.
Basements are usually damper by definition: they are below ground. My basement is unfinished, so my walls are not moisture-sealed or insulated, nor is the basement heated or air conditioned. So my dehumidifier might be running more than others.
For precision, I bought a battery operated digital combination temperature/humidity gauge at the hardware store for about $12 because my humidifier doesn't have a % setting, just single digit numbers from "off" to "continually on."
I have my dehumidifier elevated off the floor.....someone advised me to do that but for what reason I can't recall. Think it was because cold air falls, the concrete is cold, the air circulates more freely, and the at-the-floor temperature may be too low for the unit to operate effectively.
The instruction manual I got with mine advised to only operate the dehumidifier if the surrounding temperature is above 65 degrees to prevent coil icing. And if the unit is permitted to keep running when the coils are iced up, the compressor will burn itself out. The instructions also warns that dirty coils and poor circulating air can cause the unit to run excessively and burn out sooner.
This is my third humidifier in 40 years!!! It is about 10 years old, and I am going to swap it out for an higher (energy) efficiency one because these suckers can really burn up electricity.
I also use a box fan when necessary to keep the air circulating and the humidity uniform. Keeps the temperature more uniform around the entire area as well.
My FIL told me to look into humidifiers specifically designed for basement applications. He also said it might be wise to look into one that has an automatic shut off feature should the coils begin to ice over.
You probably know most of this stuff. But if not, I hope it helps you.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
I hope this is not thought to be off topic.
I'd like to see what thoughts members of the group have about keeping the humidity in the layout room in a reasonable range.
I have a bacement layout in the Northeast. In the last 22 years, I have gone through 3 dehumidifiers (I am now on my fourth). The first overheated and almost started a fire, the second just stopped dehumidfying, and the last just got frozen into a solid block of ice and then the compressor burned out. My new dehumidifier has a "relative humidity" setting on it (the old ones just had a knob that went from "minimal" to "contineous run"). Any ideas about the ideal humidity setting for a layout?
The very first dehumidifier I owned (in the 1970's) lasted almost 15 years. The newer units seem to be less robust. I'd like to have some way of knowing when the unit is on it's last legs so my whole layout doesn't either rust out or catch on fire. I am wondering if anyone has other ideas about lessening the humidity in this kind of environment. The folks at the "big box" stores and the home improvement websites have been somewhat less than helpful.
Any ideas will be appreciated.
Little Tommy
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