First off, sorry if this isn't the proper forum, but I wasn't sure where to post this question so here goes. I keep my car in my unheated detached garage. During Spring and warmer days in the Winter, the concrete will be colder than the actual air temperature which causes condensation that evaporates onto the undercarriage of the car which I especially notice on the floorpans. I've read that insulating your garage can help, but that the problem will likely remain if your garage isn't vented well enough. I've also read that simply running a small box fan will circulate enough air and help eliminate the probem. Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions as I try and take care of my car and don't want it to rust from the inside out.

 

A fan will help, insulation will also help, as it won't let the inside temp fluctuate as much. You can get I think they are called desecant bags. Kinda like the stuff you get in beef jerky. Soaks up the humidity. However your best option if you have power to the garage would be a dehumidifier. Cause that will take the water out of the air. If you can run a hose off it, so you don't have to empty it. You could leave it all winter and never go into the garage. I wouldn't recommend that, but you could.

 

get a wood burning stove

 

That's a real good way to burn down the garage.

 

I agree. Wood is such a dry heat, better than LPG or Natural gas. I have NG and my friend has a fan forced air wood burner. It's amazing how much drier his is compared to mine and his is not insulated like mine. I suppose it does not help that I wash cars and sleds in there but the furnace dries it out nicely.

 

Keeping the moisture out of the garage would also help. Are there other wet cars coming and going? Sealing the concrete floor may help if you can find a sealer that works that way. Keeping the outside water draining away from the garage also would be good. I have a small air circulator thing in my boat. It uses about 300 watts of electricity so it's way less than a heater but may be more than just a small fan. It produces only a very small amount of heat but does a good job of keeping it dry.
Also I agree with the woodstove. I've heated my workshop that way for years. Even if you only burn it occasionally it helps.

Correction according to the website it only uses 100 watts. You can see it here. www.westmarine.com search for "air dryer dehumidifier". Ya know ... if ya want.

 

I have the same situation. Dehumidifier, air movement, and heat definently. Any one of those will help. For further protection you could also buy a small spray can of rust check and put a nice mist under each floor pan or any where you want underneith. I also put a light coat of turtle wax around my rims which works good and comes right off easily in the spring. A little touch of oil on a rag to smooth over valve covers or intakes can keep that white scale off too.

 

careful with that i had my car parked a bit close to the wood stove in my garage and the heat deformed the passenger side tail light

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll likely invest in a dehumidifier and maybe try sealing the concrete as well. In the meantime, I put a box fan inside to at least get the air ciruclating. I'll stay away from the woodstove since it's an old wood garage with vinyl siding so I could picture it going up in flames rather easy. It's the only car in the garage so there's nothing wet going in and out so the moisture must just be from the temperature flucuations. Thanks again for all your insight.

 

I'm also going to purchase the air circulator. Any suggestions as far as placement, think it would be good just to slide it in under the car?

 

You know those little packets ..that look like salt that come with things like new tennis shoes etc?They absorb moisture?Just get a real BIG one and throw it in the car...

 

I know... but what if?

 

Almost every tinner I know (you know the guys who actually install heat and air for a living?) uses a wood burning stove. And I know a lot of local tinners. People who are having issues with it are amateurs who are doing something incorrectly.

For one thing it sounds like your wood burning is IN your garage. That's not a good idea. It should be outside with proper ventilation and the heat piped into your garage.

I know tinners that heat their entire house with a wood burning stove and only use their regular heat when it drops below a certain temperature.

The bad thing is, those guys have to spend a good portion of their summer hunting down and chopping up wood for the upcoming winter. Keeps you in shape I guess, but its not something I'd want to be involved in.

Mathius

 

the problem wasn't with the wood stove it was just that my car was backed in to close to it. my garage is not connected to my house and is not insulated so i just light the stove when im out there for an extended period of time. there is tin on the floor and walls around the stove so im not worried about a fire starting. i also heat my entire house with a woodburning stove with no issues and myself nor anyone in my family is a tin-knocker

 

Thats what I was thinking.

 

I purchased the air circulator today. I think it will really help. Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

my neighbor THE MAC

is like over 70 and cuts wood all the time and has this huge burn pile with all his scrap wood

man he comes in handy

how could I not respect a guy in his 70's who goes into the woods and splits wood all day long

hes the man

 

Putting some large plastic sheets down over where the car is parked helps too

 

It sounds like you have it setup better than most with the area shielded for fire, but you're still doing something wrong if you risk melting/burning your car on it. If its not outdoors, it should be in a room or area where it's in no risk at all of that sort of thing.

Mathius

 

Or you could try using common sense and NOT park your car a foot away from a HOT stove.

 

i know i shouldn't park my car to close to the stove, its just one time i didn't realize how close i was to it. needed the car outta the way to work on my sled. the tail light is just SLIGHTLY deformed to. i got a feeling your thinking its way worse then it actually is.

 

Just a quick follow up. I purchased the air circulator and it seems to be doing a great job correcting the problem so far. I'll probably still purchase a dehumidifier for the Summer. Thanks for all the suggestions