Dampness and dust: atmosphere 'cleaner' for my gameroom ?

[Xyga]

Might seem like a stupid question but heh;

My current gameroom is a 10~m² high ceiling single window annoyance.
All my gaming stuff is here, including walls of machines, games, cables, books, boxes, crt's, lcd's, computers, consoles, guns, pcb's etc etc.

To my horror I've spotted condensation on the window when I stay in for many hours, happened many times already, plus everything's collecting more dust than average from my experience (it's an old building that turned into a dust factory like all old buildings do).

Opening the window every few hours to renew the atmosphere isn't really a good solution since it opens on a big forest hill from which cold and damp air blows almost every day unless it's the middle of a really dry summer.
The door side opens on a long, chilly corridor that's not connected to central heating, not a good solution either.

So I was wondering if any of you already found themselves in a similar situation and if you've found a solution (tip, device, whatever) ?
Something that would in a way 'sanitize' a closed room's atmosphere, not something laboratory-worthy, but that helps preventing the worst cases.

The local hardware sellers only offered to sell me complete AC systems, but I don't want something that big, noisy and electricity-hungry.
(been using a small blow-heater but it's too unefficient and noisy)
Some strange devices on the net but all look borderline scam, I have zero knowledge in that field.

PS: moving my stuff to another room is not scheduled for another 6 months or more, and the next place will probably have the same issues anyway, it's a mountainous region. ^^

[Guspaz]

A dehumidifier for the humidity, and an air purifier for the dust? Perhaps you can find a device that does both.

There are various types of dehumidifiers, some of them are passive, like you get a bag of dessicant that absorbs moisture from the air, and you put them in your microwave or oven on occasion to dry them out.

[Taiyaki]

Is it the humidity you're more afraid of or the dust?

If the humidity is the problem (generally more in warm weather then right?), in my experience an AC generally noticeably dehumidifies the air.

If it's dust, how much dust are we talking about? After a couple of weeks it's normal in almost any location for visible dust buildup I believe. You can buy those swiffer (I think that's what they're called) dust absorbing clothes and just wipe the dust right off.

Not sure I'm being of any help here but hope you get the issue solved.

[gray117]

Renting, not owned I take it?

Whilst you'll probably improve the sound issue, active dehumidifiers/heaters are never going to be very power efficient.
If owned they'll be all kinds of treatments you might want to invest in depending on the exact conditions, and realistic budget, that you might want to do for the benefit of the building/everyday life... (insulation/wall sealant... etc.)...

... but it sounds more like you're after a small solution just for this one room? if that's the case you might be a bit fcked

Like guspaz is implying I'd ideally go for a passive dehumidifying solution, and look into trickle ventilation - hopefully a balance between the two can be stuck. There shouldn't be anything to fear from damp/dry air unless conditions unless we're literally talking about either a large open/closed window.

Without the ability to change some of the underlying issues, then yep you are looking at simply getting a better heater and purifier at the very least :/ ...

If conditions are a bit more extreme, and there's no way you can modify the building, (i.e. you rent etc.), then a good a/c unit that can do a bit of everything might actually be your best bet :/

If you don't want to disclose your location for privacy could you give another example of another place with the same conditions?

Are you anticipating at least some similar issues/conditions in you're new room? And want to re-employ any of the same solutions? If not I'd just suck it up for 6 months (6 months is not that long a time) and dust more or put stuff away ... unless you're in and out everything all the time... And basically just save whatever effort and cost for the next room's different / longer term solutions.

[Ed Oscuro]

It's worth stressing that you want a fairly good balance between damp and dry - dryness is most important to prevent rot / mold on any organic materials and corrosion in metals, but too dry conditions can make paper materials brittle, and in dryness you also have to take care with static electricity. That said, organic materials can recover from being too dry, but not from mold or rot.

[Xyga]

It's an old apartment that belongs to the family I'm using until moving to a house in about half a year from now if I'm lucky (go find a liveable house in the countryside that's not 40mn from where you need to be everyday, when even a small barn with a door and fucking windows costs about 80,000€)
When I move I'll try to pick a better room for my stuff, but the weather is everywhere the same yes, I bet insulation will be key. Where I am now I don't have much choice otherwise say goodbye to the living room.
It's just southern France's bottom of the central mountain range, climate is supposed to be mild, but the weather's been extremely unstable lately, like yesterday it was 1~5°C, today up to 20°C, we get lots of fog etc.

I'm indeed looking for a rather compact solution just for that single room, and yes getting rid of the humidity comes first.
Just browsed a bit for dehumidifiers at least (I don't see any combo devices) and indeed those things exist though exclusively online for me it seems.
Powered or passive I don't know...

Trickle ventilation would require changing the whole window, urgh (a damn 2m very vertical thing, what were the designers thinking).
And real AC would be too much, I can't pierce a hole into that monster wall. I should be moving places during the year so I wasn't looking at anything too radical.
Portable AC devices maybe...I don't know never used those, the granny uses one but it doesn't seem to work well when I visit her.

The thing is that room's heater is actually quite powerful, but not very controlable, it's on or off period, oven or fridge, duel one let's rock.
There really must be some defavourable thermal exchange thing happening, probably because the room's badly insulated (built during the 50's maybe).

I have machines and displays stacked up to 2m high on shelves, and above those come the peripherals, games, boxes, books etc, literally up to the ceiling.
My cables connectors seem to get that shit stain thing quicker than ever, and I've been suspecting some optical readers (consoles etc) to struggle and get dirty a bit too often.
It's my first time being worried for my stuff, behind a box I've seen some marks I suspect to be a beginning of mold and so... I freaked out.

@Ed: yeah and I don't want to have to drink litres of water to survive in the room either.
EDIT: apparently some dehumidifiers don't just suck up all the water in the air but let you control the %.

Ok hybrid/combo devices exist but fuck the price: http://www.tesco.com/direct/ecoair-20l- ... 9-8441.prd
It's for much bigger places anyway.

[RocketBelt]

Yes a dehumidifier is expensive but it will sort out your dust and condensation.
They have a dust filter which you change or vacuum out once every few months. It's very effective.
As long as the room is reasonably warm (I.e. not freezing) it also sorts out the humidity.
One of these with automatic controls is best, you just leave it on low auto eco mode and it comes to life, quietly, whenever the humidity reaches a certain level. You generally need to empty the water out once a week.
I had one of these (or the older model) when all my gaming gear was stuck in a room like yours: https://www.ebac.com/dehumidifiers/shop ... dd295wh-gb
Worth the price to keep a roomful of treasure safe in my opinion.

[tacoguy64]

I dont have much problem with the humidity since my stuff is in a well ventilated area. Also the newer windows do a good job of keeping humidity out. And for dust I try to clean at least once a week. Keeping the area clean goes a long ways for dust.

[gray117]

It's all a matter of perspective.

My more building/lifestyle orientated preferences would probably cost far in excess of 300 euros - and I fully admit are probably more effort than they're worth to most people in such a situation: unless the building owner has an identical perspective, it just won't be worth the hassle even discussing possible options.

If a couple hundred euros seems overkill (regarless of route) I'd suggest your problem/solution/potential risk/cost of damage is relatively minor?

I'd primarily look into possible conditions to limit possible introduction of moisture/dust from other rooms - there any kitchens/bathrooms along that cooler corridor? You ever store even slightly damp clothes/shoes in the same room? ... A couple of fabric (breathable/absorbing) dust sheets could help regulate changes in temperature/humdity whilst protecting electical equipment not in use from dust/dirt ... Not plastic sheeting - won't be breathable.

The only thing to still beware of is if you've got paper stuff near/resting against a cooler wall/floor where moisture may still build up. Perhaps store stuff away for 6 months? Got any wood cupboards or something like that ideally?

...

Longer term, if you've got expensive paper as Ed noted changes or extremes in humidity want to be avoided. Wood cupboards/or wood frames with a couple of gaps in the the back or similar are generally good and relatively practical - help provide protection from more rapid fluctuations, absorb some moisture whilst also not trapping it.

Passive ventilation and insulation is always a balance. And obviously very particular to environment and room size. It's always something I'd recommend investing in, but you may find occasional use of an active dehumidifier, even in a near ideal dust free setup, is useful particularly on evenings, depending on the practicality of heating/cooling the space and general use of the rooms nearby. Why evenings? - Tends to be the time of active use when comfortable room temperature will be most at odds with environment.

[Xyga]

Around 200€ ship. incl. would be the maximum I'd put into it, I'll have to find a similar-enough model available closer to me though, to save on the shipping.

And nope nothing bad in the vicinity, it's really that room alone that is bad. It was always used as storeroom after all, even by the previous owners.

I've seen personal gamerooms built in rather non-living rooms like attics or basements, and although I've though about the atmosphere issues potential with those I haven't considered a room located on the same floor as the rest of the house/flat could 'hide' similarly bad insulation and ventilation.
I'm just in the middle of learning my lesson.

Storing everything away would be annoying since, well, I'm using that stuff after all. ^^
The current arrangement is a somewhat custom-build integrated main desk surface + shelves (two of those against two walls actually), all open for easy access to things and cables.
That was my mistake from the beginning apparently, I've always favoured shelves instead of cupboard-style, mainly because of cables.

Anyway when I move to my next place I will definitely investigate and anticipate any work I'd need to do in order to avoid experiencing the same again.

[system11]

Our house suffers from the window condensation and even damp problems on outer walls. These fixed it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/151-Products-Lt ... humidifier

I put one on every window sill and a few around the lower walls in worst affected rooms. They fill up over time, you replace them.

[cools]

System11 you rent, right? See if you can get your landlord to fit a PIV unit. It'll sort that out in a matter of days and keep it under control. (Had to do the same for a house I let out recently)