Dehumidifier or Heater?

RogersonCrusoe

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,

Now that winter is upon us and I'm not going out every other day, I was wondering what I should do to keep my boat mildew free. Here is my scenario:

21' fibreglass hardtop boat with cuddy. Cuddy has no door, though I can put a piece of metal in the door area to kinda seal off the area.

Stored outside in a yard (not mine, but a couple km down the road). When sunny, the area does receive direct sunlight, but for only a few hours.

Boat has a full sloping canvas cover that snaps on around the gunwales. Not an airtight fit, but certainly good enough to keep the rain/leaves/etc... out. (See profile pic for visual aides)

Was thinking of putting in a dehumidifier and letting the water go into a bucket, then dumping the bucket out as required. But maybe a heater is better as the space isn't air tight? I will probably still be using her on average once every two weeks.

I defer to your infinite wisdom.
 
I've had issues in the past with mildew showing up in some areas of my boat. On carpeted and vinyl areas more than others so I now keep both a dehumidifier and small heater in the boat. Space heaters are very dangerous so make sure your not running a long cord for it that is under rated for the juice it will need to be running. Make sure it is in a place where it won't overheat/start a fire etc. If you can I suggest trying to surround it with non flammable material for extra safety. And don't set it too warm. Set it just so it doesn't allow for things to freeze if that's your main goal. A dehumidifier will freeze solid if left to run in a freezing temp environment. I learned that even in my closed in cuddy area of my boat. I still needed to keep the ambient temp above freezing in order to ensure the dehum would work properly and not have it freeze. I also completely tarp off the back fish deck of my boat to keep it from getting full of frozen water/snow etc.
 
I have sound that a 60 watt light bulb in one of those allow clip on work light shrouds work good. The metal around the bulb warms up too..so kind of like a very low watt heater..I put that in the cuddy..and use 1 or 2 of those DRy-z pellet things
 
You need air flow to keep the mildew from forming.
worst thing is to button up too tight.

X2 on good air movement. I have found that if you are going to heat it when storing then it really needs to be in a shop...imo. I tried the lightbulb trick one year with a larger sunbridge style boat. When I checked on it after only a few weeks it was like some crazy mildew/ mold/experiment gone wrong! Lol. On my last boat it was always under a covered car port. I left all hatches...storage doors...fish lockers popped open. I kept the cuddy open as well. I placed a small but strong fan in the cuddy blowing forward and had zero issues with mildew after that other than a bit on the cockpit upholstery that I couldn’t remove. If you use heat keep it dry otherwise good air movement is best....imo
 
Dehumidifiers lose efficiency as the temperature drops.

I use a big one on the big boat. I find it really helps at keeping the boat smell minimized.
Light bulb in engine room and the one amp whirligig in the cabin.

Every boat had a different balance check often until you find it. Otherwise you will be mixing up a borax and wood soap mixture to kill all the mold. Painful flashback there.
 
Open all your hatches every door pull all the cushions out and put it them the house, sponge for moisture, throw a fan in
there with an opening caged, for rodents, circulate the air, blow out the moisture, it's like dry wallers they use fans to
dry there mud in a mudded out house no heat, close those windows and they fog up and drip.

Rodents chase heat
 
Reeltime brings up a very good point about rodents. You do not want rats, minks or otters moving in, even for a few days. I would make sure all openings are closed off with galvanized mesh to keep out the animals. Not only have I had Minks breach my v birth and cause 4K in damage and launching of an insurance claim but a year later a 30' Grady White Marlin at my marina was apparently sold via an insurance company due to extensive damage from a rat infestation.

I use my boat in winter so don't want to remove cushions / blankets/pillows etc etc. - one Stor-Dry Warm Air Circulatory is all that I need on my Grady 228 to keep the cabin dry and mildew free. As far as rodents, I had to put expanding foam covering wire mesh in a couple places above helm bulkhead to seal out the critters. A radio playing in the helm area also helps keep them from stinking up the helm area.
 
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