Why Dehumidification is Essential for Classic Car Storage

December 12, 2017

Classic car ownership is more than simply owning a beautiful piece of design and engineering – it’s being a custodian of history. With that comes a tremendous responsibility to care and maintain for these machines, keeping them in the sort of condition which will enable future generations to love them just like we do.

When it comes to looking after these machines though, it’s a touch more complicated than just regular wax treatments – especially if you’re in an environment which suffers from high levels of rain or humidity.

Indeed, it’s humidity which poses the greatest threat to classic cars. But why?

Put simply, all air contains a certain amount of moisture in it. We call that level the relative humidity, or RH, and express it as a percentage. The higher the RH, the more moisture is in the air. Equally, the lower the RH, the drier the air is.

High humidity on its own isn’t necessarily an issue, however. Instead, it’s the cooling of air which poses the largest issues.

As air cools, it can hold less and less moisture until it reaches a point where the air is saturated and reaches 100% RH, otherwise known as the dew point.

If anything in the space is at a temperature below the dew point of the air then the moisture in the air will manifest itself as condensation on the surfaces of those objects – objects like your classic car.

Now, we don’t need to tell you the damage water can do to classic cars, especially those which are prone to rust, but condensation is more of a threat than you might realise. Why? Well, because the moisture which is condensed out of the air is pure distilled water, it’s the ideal environment to encourage the growth of mould and fungal spores, something which can destroy irreplaceable original interiors.

There are a number of ways in which you can reduce the risk of humidity in your private garage, from better ventilation and consistent heating to custom plastic enclosures, but the most effective and reliable way to ensure a dry storage space is to invest in classic car humidity control.

Dehumidifiers work to remove the moisture from the air in a garage or storage space, thereby ensuring cars, parts and tools remain free from corrosion and water damage. Dehumidifiers are cheap to run, extremely quiet and able to operate within incredibly strict tolerances, easily capable of keeping the air within the target 40-60% RH.

All modern dehumidifiers feature thermostats to switch on and off as required, and can even tolerate sharp changes in humidity like when you open a garage door in the rain, or bring a vehicle back from a spin in wet conditions.

Best of all though, dehumidifiers can be used to keep even extremely large spaces free from the perils of high RH, enabling multi-car garages, storage facilities and even aircraft hangers.

To find out more about Dehum’s industry-leading dehumidification solutions, get in touch with a member of our team today.