How do I stop this condensation?!?

I pull a 29' 2016 Palomino Solaire. I have been full-timing for over a year now but this trailer is new.

Every time it gets cold I am getting heavy condensation inside the trailer on my walls and windows. I assume it's due to the heat from inside meeting the cold from outside.

The walls are what worry me because there is so much condensation that the towel i use to wipe them down gets pretty soaked every time. 

The wall I am most concerned about is the one nearest to the axle where my bed is. It is carpeted just below the mattress and has began to mold from all the moisture. It's inches from my pillow and cannot be good for me.

Does anyone know a solution for this? Will a dehumidifier fix the issue?

I am concerned about the damage all the moisture is doing to the trailer and my health. I definitely need any advice on the matter. Thank you in advance.

You have to remove the moisture. I generally leave a vent open all the time, even in the cold. Another alternative is to run a dehumidifier. You will be shocked at how much moisture will be generated from your daily activities.

Yes you need to run a dehumidifier. However, every one has a chamber that fills with water and you must empty it every day.

Unless it is a model with a drain hose. That can be run into a sink or shower, but that will cause your gray tank to fill quickly. Running the condensate discharge outside through piping is best if you can. A hole through the floor, piped in with PVC or pex, to a hose fitting on the outside. Hook up an appropriate length of hose to that.

The moisture that you see was generated by you.  Keep showers short and no warmer than necessary.  Run the vent fan during bathroom use.  Keep cooking to a minimum and run the hood fan when you do.  Get damp wet towels and clothing out of the RV.  The human body adds quite a bit of moisture, just breath on a cold mirror and you will see, but please don't quit breathing.

The warm air holds a lot of moisture (high relative humidity), so you get condensation whenever ti touches a cold surface.  The cold wall surfaces are a result of poor insulation and not much can be done once the rig is built. Cold windows can be insulated from the inside, but then you can't see out and it's darker inside. You will have to make your own choices about that.

The moisture in the interior has several sources, a few of which you may be able to limit somewhat:
1. Your breathe is very moist - every time you exhale you add water to the air
2. Gas flames produce moisture, so using the stove burners creates more moisture
3. Cooking, especially boiling, pushes moisture into the air
4. Showers produce a lot of moisture (steam)

NOTE: The gas furnace does not add moisture to the interior air - it's moisture is vented outside.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

The gas furnace does not add moisture to the interior air - it's moisture is vented outside.

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In fact the furnace helps evaporate moisture along with electric heaters.

the furnace helps evaporate moisture along with electric heaters.

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Yes, but any "evaporation" just adds moisture in the interior air, so it does not reduce condensation in any way. The only way to reduce moisture-laden air is to vent it outside or use a dehumidifier to extract the water.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

Yes, but any "evaporation" just adds moisture in the interior air, so it does not reduce condensation in any way. The only way to reduce moisture-laden air is to vent it outside or use a dehumidifier to extract the water.

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Maybe I should have said it dries out the air. I have a pellet stove at home and when it's running, it does dry out the air leaving our throats in the morning and leads to nose bleeds because of the dry air. We have to add moisture with a humidifier.

    ?IF? you are using a gas fired (not electric) auxiliary heat source....you are adding a substantial amount of water to the air inside the unit. Water is a byproduct of combustion! A de-humidifier will help greatly. As some have mentioned, your forced-air furnace or electric heat ?will not? add humidity to the unit. Also, as mentioned, long hot showers, excessive cooking, etc will also contribute to the additional humidity. Your camping location will also play a key role in your RV humidity. If you?re in Louisiana and using a fired heater for auxiliary heat source...you will work a de-humidifier very hard! In a desert region....not so much. We ?only? use our forced-air heat when we winter camp (temperatures often in single digits or colder), and never have a humidity/moisture/sweat problem!

A couple of dyspn heater/cooler fans will help to move air and dry it out - but they are expensive, if out off the budget try a couple of parabolic elec heaters, cheap and effective but kinda ugly

steveblonde said:

A couple of dyspn heater/cooler fans will help to move air and dry it out - but they are expensive, if out off the budget try a couple of parabolic elec heaters, cheap and effective but kinda ugly

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Electric heaters, fans and whatever will not do anything.  The moisture needs to be taken from the inside to the outside a dehumidifier can do that.  Ventilating the RV can bring in colder air and the relative humidity of that air will drop as it warms.

lynnmor said:

Electric heaters, fans and whatever will not do anything.  The moisture needs to be taken from the inside to the outside a dehumidifier can do that.  Ventilating the RV can bring in colder air and the relative humidity of that air will drop as it warms.

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Sorry i should have said inconjuntion with not using the propane furnace , extended showers etc

Contestedmilk said:

Every time it gets cold I am getting heavy condensation inside

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http://bit.ly/2oAH5yi

I have this, just cut the cable and use a plug what fits in cigarette lighter outlet, it's a rip off version of EVA DRY but much cheaper. I've tryed both can confirm they are the same also noticed collects more moisture in warmer/hot conditions.

Winter time you need ventilation (I have a camper I leave the front side windows slightly off) also open heat sources (stove, or heating elements) uses oxygen and by product is moisture.

Maybe I should have said it dries out the air.

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So where does the water go when it "dries out"?  It gets complicated, but the answer is "no where". The air is not actually any drier (less water) and you can still get condensation on cold surfaces, e.g. single pane windows.

When you heat air, the relative humidity percentage goes down but the same amount of water vapor is still present, even though it feels drier.  That's because warm air can hold more moisture than cooler air.  Our bodies react to low relative humidity because dry air sucks moisture from our skin, where as a high relative humidity prevents us from sweating and makes us uncomfortable.  I won't go into a long explanation here, but those who are interested can view https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/question651.htm

Personal comfort has little to do with condensation.  Water condenses onto a cold surface when the air adjacent to the surface cools enough to drive the relative humidity at that point up to 100%. The relative humidity in an RV gets high rather quickly - several moisture sources in a physically small volume of air.  Heating the air doesn't change it much - you can feel dry-eyes near the heater but still have water dripping on the walls or windows.

Site built homes are typically well sealed and insulated, so if you start with already-dry outside air at, say, 30 F. and heat it up, the relative humidity goes way, way down and it feels dry.  With the fairly large volume of air inside a house, breathing and showers and cooking don't add a lot of water to the total volume of air, so it still feels "dry". In an RV, the small volume of air quickly gets saturated with the water from stove, shower, people breathing, etc, so the relative humidity goes up and condensation quickly becomes a problem. Heating the air more reduces relative humidity, but you need a lot of heat to keep the air near the many cold surfaces above the dew point (100% relative humidity).