Dehumidifier

Depends how ventilated your garage is. Not much point using a dehumidifier if there's a gale blowing through. If there are no serious leaks of air or water, then I should think it would have some benefit. Position it where the dry air being blown out will do the most good. Also, try running it inside the car once in a while to dry out the carpets. That's the advantage of these small, cheap units, you can move them about easily.

I would think the Homebase cheapie would handle the size of garage without problems, provided that the door is a reasonable fit and there are no ventilators to let wind-blown rain in. Leave the car windows open a bit too, to let the air circulate into the inside.

But don't expect the Homebase unit to last all that long. I have been using a Homebase dehumidifier in my greenhouse to stop mould and condensation, and after about 14 months (and just out of guarantee) the bearings in the fan motor went. I ended up fitting the motor from a scrap fan heater.

Jim

Big enough ? Yes.

Man enough ? Probably not. There's a lot of dead Homebase dehumidifiers around.

Two things to check are that you limit the amount of moisture coming in (stop the draughts, paint the concrete floor if it doesn't already have a DPC) and also that you don't bother running it when the temperature is near freezing. Timers or thermostats can be useful.

-- Do whales have krillfiles ?

Are they the same as the cheapo B&Q ones? Perhaps I'd better start saving for a replacement.

Dunno, but the cheapo Curry's ones that I used in the house and garage lasted the best part of ten years.

Ron Robinson

Labelled Matsui by any chance? Yup, mine lasted about ten years too, then started tripping the RCD whenever it began to defrost. I replaced it with a B&Q one a couple of years ago.

They're the ones. I think the relays give up, but I couldn't be bothered to investigate. I reckoned that after 10 years they didn't owe me a lot. I haven't taken them to the tip yet, so if anyone wants to collect them from near Coventry, they are welcome. Remove the 'frumious' to email me

Ron Robinson

I've got one of the Matsui ones, keep it in the loft as the fan is single speed and a little noisy but it does the job fine. Replaced it with an Ebac, much more expensive £260 v £90 but is a quieter machine and more suitable to leave on at night.