Summer Time Humidity

I just wanted to publish some numbers for you guys that shut down their stoves during the summer. I know, in the past, there have been questions concerning humidity levels inside vs outside stoves using different heating arrangements. Here is my experience with a koker.

I have a dry basement, poured concrete walls and floor, natural drain, blah, blah, blah. With a dehumidifier running, the humidity levels run about 60 to 65% at an air temperature of 65 to 70. According to my cheap sensor, this is a "normal" humidity level. Inside my koker, I have an infrared reptile heater running on the floor of the stove and a 60 watt bulb hooked to the stoker rails. With both these running (yes, probably overkill) the temp runs about 90 inside and the humidity level is at about 20%. Now, I am measuring humidity with cheap walmart-type sensors, so accuracy is probably an issue, but you can definitely say there is a significant reduction in humidity levels inside the stove by keeping it warmer than the outside air surrounding it.

Also, I really scrapped down the stove this year (about a month ago) and got it down to bare steel that is still silver (minimal rust forming over the past three years). I did not spray it down with any type of oil based product this time and after a month, there is absolutely no sign of rust forming on the bare metal at the 20% humidity level.

I have used oil based treatments on the stove the past couple summers and am now thinking they were a waste of time since I also heated the stove each summer.

W. thanks for posting you ideas. Keeping the Inside of the stove is the best way to keep it in the best condition, no rust from humidity. Did you try a lower W. bulb?

The recommendation which I first heard from Jerry of LL was to use a baking soda and water based solution to wash down the inside of the stove and pipes. That will neutralizer the acids, it's cheap and fairly easy to do. I just did it on my Grandmothers pipes, I'll see what happens.

Below are pics of a hydrometer outside and inside the firebox of my furnace. I was hoping my firebox humidity would be lower. It's sealed, has a can of damp rid and a light bulb in it. I also coated it with oil. Could that cheap gauge be getting a false reading from the oil? It does have an odor.. If not, I guess my efforts are helping a little bit..

Actually, I used just water to wet down a big dry wall sanding sponge to help penetrate the crusted fly ash, making it a little easier to scrape off. I did dry the area that was wet with a shop towel immediately after scraping, but there is no rust forming where it was wet. I found it interesting that the areas that had been displaying rust, when I scrapped them down, there was good, non corroded steel underneath. It was just the iron in the crusted fly ash that was rusting.

A lot of people use light bulbs, but I really like the infrared heater. It doesn't really warm the air directly, it heats the metal surface w/ infrared rays, then the internal walls give up the heat. They do have a range of wattage you can buy, looks like from 60 up to 250 w, so some of them do gobble up electricity.

Do a Search...previous discussions on this subject.

Golden Rod is an option...used in gun safes.

McGiever wrote:Do a Search...previous discussions on this subject.

Golden Rod is an option...used in gun safes.

I used one of those rods last summer with good results so useing it again this summer . They only draw about 10 watts, and the one I bought has a lifetime warranty .

I just wanted to add here that I noticed my light had blown in the furnace. Probably was out for a few days before I noticed. The hydrometer was reading up around 90%. I put a new light in and within a couple days it had lowered down to 60% or so.. And I've drained the little bucket of damp rid twice thru the summer.