I expect that some of you have already done this, so I’m hoping for some pointers, please.
My garage gets too cold in winter (zero degrees Celsius - I don’t think that it has ever dropped lower, though) and it can become too humid. The humidity is caused, I think, because I have a really wide roller shutter door so when it’s open and humid outside it comes right on in! That and wet cars are sometimes unavoidable.
It’s a detached construction and the ground floor measures approximately 6m x 8m. The outer wall is facing brick and the inner is 100mm Durox Supablock (according to spec) - it’s painted inside, not plasterboard. There’s a 50mm cavity that should be insulated (again, according to spec). There’s an upstairs with a pitched roof and three roof windows. Downstairs has a window and door on one side and the large roller shutter on the other (it must be c. 5m wide).
I’d like to stop the temperature dropping below about 10 degrees - it hasn’t done that yet this year, with no heating in place. I also want to drop the humidity to about 60% (it can get close to 90% when conditions are adverse). I have an electrical supply, cold water, and drainage up there.
I was considering an Ebac dehumidifier with a constant drainage option. Not sure which one yet, but probably one of the more expensive ones - I’ll seek Ebac’s advice, too. Our Range - New - Ebac
For heating, I think that two wall mounted electric panel heaters downstairs makes sense. I’ve got plenty of plug sockets already installed so hope to just mount them and plug them in. I’ve got no idea where to start on that one - heaters seem to vary hugely in terms of price and function. I’d like automatic temperature control and basic scheduling (I probably don’t even need days of the week, just a clock/timer function).
I’m not working to a strict budget so I can spend a bit more on a quality solution but also I don’t need to spend money on superfluous features - for example I am not bothered about having a mobile app for my panel heaters!
Any suggestions/help gratefully received - thanks.
I found lining my garage door, also about 5m with 1" celotex sheet made an enormous difference to the general comfort and evenness of temperature inside.
I assume you could do the same inside each panel of the shutter system.
My garage is part of the house, fully damp-proofed and insulated, but only heated at the far end from the big door. Lining the door changed going to that far end from entering a fridge to just being another part of the room. Most of the time it sits around 15C, even for much of the summer if the door remains shut!
The door is draught-proofed around sides and top. I kept some ventilation at floor level, but reduced it to a minimum such that dampness was dried off without a howling gale. The concrete floor remains cold.
I had an Ebac 2850e dehumidifier in our garage which did a brilliant job of reducing the humidity. It would fill its 3.5 litre tank in a few days depending on how damp it was. The problem is it was a compressor type so started to freeze up if the temperature dropped to about 5 deg.C or lower. This isn’t a problem in the house, where we run a couple already, so I replaced the one in the garage with a Meaco DD8L Junior Desiccant Dehumidifier. This won’t freeze up it it gets too cold. However, it only has a 2 litre tank which it fills every 1-2 days even on its lowest setting, so it is removing a lot more moisture than the Ebac did. It also produces more heat so actually warms the garage slightly. They do a DD8L with a bigger 3 litre tank but if possible I would fit the continuous drain hose so you don’t have to bother emptying the tank all the time.
Thanks, but I don’t think that the roller shutter door is an issue when shut. If I added insulation to it then it wouldn’t roll up into its box. I’d have to go and check the door’s specification, but I think that it’s already insulated within each section.
Were you to change the roller shutter for say an insulated sectional door you’d get a better return on any heating.
Just raising the temperature will reduce the relative humidity. For example when it is 0 degrees C outside with RH 80%, heating that air in the garage to 10C will reduce the RH to c. 43%. Even 5C would get the RH below 60%, probably enough to prevent mildew.
I think that it is an insulated sectional door. Perhaps my description is flawed. It’s made up of lots of long rectangular sections and rolls up into a box at the top.
A sectional door will usually have no more than 5 panels. Optionally they can be insulated. They run back along the garage ceiling rather than rolling up in a box.
You’ll get much better value from your heating if you can insulate the door, more so because of its large area, They also look a lot less industrial than a roller shutter, if that matters to you. We’re putting one in our new build, the garage being integrated into the house on the front elevation.
I seem to remember that’s ‘Harry’s Garage’ on YouTube had a useful video on vehicle storage and garage heating. Might be worth a quick look as he discussed heating.
I like the detailed description of your garage! Sounds like there is potential to insulate it properly. Doubt I would be able to insulate and heat mine without considerable expense, farm sheds aren’t built with energy efficiency in mind!
For what it’s worth, I have an outside gazebo in which I’ve stored my NC for the past couple of winterss. It has zero insulation and the curtain sides inevitable allow outside air to penetrate at the lower edges, especially when windy. From around the start of October I set a Meaco dehumidifier going at 60% and have a drain pipe permanently attached. As someone else has mentioned already, I believe the Meaco also provides a bit of heating, although I also believe that if temperatures drop really low (notwithstanding the Meaco’s heating function) the machine will not function. So to counter that I generally set up a smallish fan heater that’s connected to a power supply via a thermostatic plug, and I set the thermostat to around +2-3 degs C, which seems to be just enough to ensure the dehumidifier keeps functioning. This combination actually seems to work very well.
Years ago, I owned a glider. It had its own enclosed trailer. Over winter, I’d store it all at the gliding club airfield. I realised that rather a lot of condensation would gather in the trailer. The gel coating on fibre-glass gliders does not take well with condensation, and will eventually be ruined.
My solution was to buy some silica gel crystals from a local chemicals wholesaler., and spread the crystals around inside the trailer on 4 or 5 seed trays. And lastly, I’d tape around, with masking tape, the gaps in the drop down rear door of the trailer. Once a week, I’d drop by the airfield, and swap over the trays with fresh ones. I’d then refresh the used crystals in the oven at home.
I have one of the below in an outside garage / shed wooden construction for my NC.
The garage is very damp and first year I had the car it was very very damp on the underside of the car, visible moisture.
This Carcoon bubble has completely stopped any moisture on or around the car within the bubble, although the floor around it can be wet, water driven under door etc.
No heating or dehumidifiers just the 2 small fans moving the air. I was very sceptical it would work that well within my garage and have been very impressed.
Interesting! I have the same issue with damp garage etc, wondered if the carcoon setup would just pull in more damp air and keep it near the vehicle but seems they have a filter as well?
Only a foam filter to stop dust etc, can’t see it makes any difference to amount of moisture in the air.
When I read all the blurb before buying one, the various similar kits all make similar claims, it is just the fact the air is moving and not static and the same temperature. The bubble has a positive pressure when running.
I was sceptical about it but it seems to work.
I used to overwinter my Ducati 999 in a cocoon of my own making with a small dehumidifier inside the cocoon.
The first layer was a soft plastic decorating oversheet. On top of that were synthetic blankets.
The dehumidifier produced heat as well as reducing humidity, so the bike was warm and dry inside its impervious membrane topped with insulating blankets.
Worked a treat l
Thanks - it was purpose built so I had the luxury of getting almost exactly what I wanted. Not quite enough room upstairs for a gym - the neighbours objected about its height!
