We camped at the beach last weekend. High 70's during the day and low 60's at night. We had the tent windows all zipped up.
When I got up in the morning I noticed a lot of water droplets on the ceiling above my bed. (front)
Not as many over the other bed. The only fan running was on our Coleman 12V cooler.
Anybody experience this?
Thanks,
Peter
Yes - it's common. I used to observe this in old Boy Scout canvas tents. Humans put out a lot of moisture when they breathe, and it will condense when the air temperature drops below the dew point. I'm guess you are in a more humid location?
The easy solution is to leave a couple of windows unzipped a bit so that outside air can mix inside and remove some of the moisture. Even with a fan, it's necessary to mix in air from the outside of the tent. You may still get a bit of water (like dew) but you should stop seeing lots of drops.
Try to stop breathing so much while you sleep.
Also, dogs, if you have them.
...Try a mini fan to exchange the humidity inside, with the dry air outside... also try to vent up high and down low so you get a cross flow of air. I have this happen in my wall tent each year while hunting. It might take a few tries to get the vent profile right... also consider that propane is a "wet" heat that also adds a lot of moisture...a small electric heater might be better for the weekends where the humidity is high...or use no heat with a heavier sleeping bag...
there is also the "Dri-z-air" desiccants that might help, but I have not had much experience with that method... :)
[p]It's going to happen to some extent no matter what. You can minimize condensation by not camping under the stars. Choose tree cover if possible. Another thing is to not set up in open vegetation. Lots of plants, grasses and bushes will amplify the effect.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Another way is to hoist a tarp over the tent. The moisture will typically form on that instead of the tent. Not really feasible in your case.[/p]
Much like traditional tent camping, ventilation is key in my experience. I also look at it as just part of the experience, mitigate it as much as possible but accepting that its going to happen. Because of this I usually have a wipe down towel near by so that if something happens and the condensation gets real bad I can just wipe it down before it falls all over the bedding.
Honestly even if it does get onto some of the stuff, it usually isn't enough to worry about since it dries out during the day.
-Sean
Quote from: @admin" source="/post/12163/thread" timestamp="1434030874Much like traditional tent camping, ventilation is key in my experience. I also look at it as just part of the experience, mitigate it as much as possible but accepting that its going to happen. Because of this I usually have a wipe down towel near by so that if something happens and the condensation gets real bad I can just wipe it down before it falls all over the bedding.
Honestly even if it does get onto some of the stuff, it usually isn't enough to worry about since it dries out during the day.
-Sean
In five years we have never had a condensation issue inside our QS 8.1, but I almost always vent a couple of the storm canvas in a corner, and when it's chilly we use a 1,500W electric heater which helps keep humidity down. The only time we close up tight is when it's really cold, and then the heater is on (or my wife will walk home (rofl)). We don't often camp without electric (bunch'a wimps!) but when we have it's usually been in mountains where the humidity is generally low anyway.
+1 on the electric heater, if you have electric h/u. When we camped at the beach this past weekend, we used a little electric heater for the first time (vs. the propane heater) and NO CONDENSATION! First time in 40 years I haven't been awakened by drops on my head, even with leaving windows and vents open.
We found our 1500w ceramic cube took about 20 minutes to take us from high 40's to low 60's. On an early spring trip with overnight lows in the high 30's we used the propane furnace for the first time. 5 minutes and it was toasty inside.
Between the crappy thermostat and the small volume being heated, we really just need a simple on/off switch. We didn't leave the propane on enough to worry about condensation.
I also think size is a big factor. So far our 10.0 has been good except for one time where I ran a propane heater for a long time. I still have habits from the days of tent camping where we almost always had droplets form.