Dehumidifier schedule

[HopCar]

I’m a Miami boy also. I know what you’re going through. I used an Eva Dry that I had put a hose on so it could drain continuously into the galley sink. I was hooked to shore power so I just ran it 24/7. I had a cheap hygrometer in the cabin so I could check the humidity. The Peltier Effect dropped the humidity down to the low 60 percent range. This was low enough to prevent mildew. It did not increase the cabin heat significantly.

I had tried several ventilation methods but couldn’t stop the mildew that way.

Your boat is significantly larger than mine. A single small Eva Dry will probably not be effective in your larger cabin.

You say you’re on a seawall, sounds like you’re behind a friends house. Will your friend let you run an extension cord down to the boat?

[jsbartley]

Nice to get input from a Miami local who understands what we suffer in the summer. The boat is on the seawall of an empty lot, with no options for shorepower. I could try to add another EvaDry, with an additional couple of solar panels. Just concerned that, with frequency I open the boat, I may be trying to dehumidify Miami???? May it's just my cross to bear in exchange for living in paradise (and getting free dockage), to clean all interior surfaces (including inside cabinets and closets) weekly. As soon as summer's over, we move to almost daily cleaning of bird crap on the deck.... and of course looking out for hurricanes. Never a dull moment!

PS: but just got back from Key West and Dry Tortugas, so I still feel fortunate!

[HopCar]

I see Eva Dry now makes a larger unit than I used. Says it’s good for up to 2200 cu ft. The big one sells for about a hundred bucks. I think it’s worth a try.
https://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-Edv-2...80999338&psc=1

Pick up a hygrometer so you can see if it’s working.
https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-TP5...71987885&psc=1

On my boat the tank on the Eva Dry needed to be emptied just about every day. I drilled a small hole in the tank and stuck a piece of aquarium air hose in it. I stuck the other end of the hose in the galley sink drain. Simple and worked fine.

If you need to, you can add more solar later.

[jsbartley]

Thanks for the heads up on the larger EvaDry. Will look into it. Yes, and I did buy a hygrometer with a wireless sensor for outside, to be able to compare inside and outside temps and humidity. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again for all the input!

[thinwater]

My experience is with the larger Evadri (it's in the link).


I understand your usage. Not that different from mine. By storage, I only meant as opposed to used while you were living on-board. But if you visit every few days, it may need to run more.

[Pizzazz]

Again, an average person produces more sweat per hour than the Eva dry unit can take out. In Florida, it will be significantly worse. It is physically impossible for the Eva Dry unit to cope with your sweat production, leave alone the humidity on the boat. If you leave the Eva Dry on while away and the boat is air tight, it will overtime reduce the humidity. Once you get on the boat and open the hatches, the humidity will be back to ambient and higher within 5-10 min. So, pick your poison. If you stay with the Eva Dry, you will run a slow, highly inefficient dehumidifier that will take days to bring the humidity level down. If you get a compressor unit, you can set it to maintain a certain humidity level and it will be more efficient than the Eva Dry. If you want comfort while on the boat you do fans or AC if you are in Florida. But do not go for half solutions.