Condensation proof a shed

smithy1981

Hi all,

I recently got a 3m x 3m timber frame shed with steel cladding. There's a felt lining on the roof but nothing else. Will i need to insulate the whole shed before i put say a computer in there?

And if i do, whats the recommended way to do it on a budget?

Smithy

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058350280/condensation-proof-a-shed

Hi! There's no real way to condensation-proof a shed - you can only reduce the amount of condensation by ventilating and possibly insulating. The condensation in a shed is initially carried in by the humidity level of the surrounding air, what comes up through the floor (hopefully you have a DPC fitted) and any humidity added by humans or wet items, etc. Then when the air temperature outside the shed changes, the moisture contained within the air in the shed condenses on the coldest surfaces - those are the external panels first and then anything metal within the shed as it rapidly looses heat to space.

If you go down the route of insulating and sealing the shed up, then you trap the moisture within the shed and you'll end up with a much bigger issue. So in effect you can only work to reduce the condensation level by ventilating whatever excess humidity is within the shed before it condenses.

When you say that you were going to add a computer, do you mean as a home-office or just as a remote server? I ask because a home-office is a different affair to a garden shed - in that case you would go down the path of sealing it very well and then insulating - but at the end of the day you would also add vents to allow some of that captured moisture to move out of the shed and reduce the amount of condensation which builds up from human activity within the shed. So different approaches for different needs.

Calahonda52

The other component here is the relationship between RH, Dewpoint and temp

http://www.dpcalc.org/

so the lower the air temp in the shed, the more prone to condensation so you might consider a dehumidifier

We need to know bit more about the project objectives

If you get a dehumidifier get one where you can

a:drain to outside

b: set the target RH because with TF, if you go too low with the RH you will ask the timbers warping if they dry out too much

The other consideration with it is as its metal: solar drive

the idea is described here

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/can-polyethylene-on-top-of-your-rainscreen-prevent-inward-solar-vapour-drive

smithy1981

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122099276#Comment_122099276

Wow, thanks for talking the time to explain all that. The shed is on blocks, pretty sure they used DPC and there seems to be plenty of space under the floor.

The plan is to put in a couple of 3d printers and a computer to run them and a couple of other projects.

Insulation with vents seems to way to go so? Thx again!

smithy1981

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122099456#Comment_122099456

Didn't think id spend this much time researching condensation when i got up this morning ha, Thx for the info!

SeanieRetrofitter

Insulation and ventilation- always the solution for condensation & mould. The rest is details.

But you probably need to make sure it's properly weatherproof. A feltroof sounds very temporary to me, i wouldn't rely on it to protect water sensitive stuff like a computer.

monseiur

For such a tiny area you should have used insulated cladding for roof and side panels…..for just a few dollars more… which you'll have to spend now trying to insulated it. But all may not be lost yet, get a quote from the likes of Kingspan for, say, 60mm panels for the roof and seeing that's it's timber framed, you can slab the sides with insulated plasterboard & skim. If you don't have a window with an ope for ventilation fit a 6'' x 6'' hit & miss type vent at ceiling level.

GreeBo

You could look at somewhere like this ( https://www.panelsell.ie/configurator no affiliation) and see what it would cost to just replace your current steel panels/roof with insulated panels and possibly save yourself some heartache.

If I was putting electronics into the shed I would want it properly insulated, watertight and vented.