Odd Question - My freezer is sweating??? WTH?

[MossflowerWoods]

So I'm busy fixing and cleaning the basement recovering from the flood 2 weeks ago and I am very aware of everything.

So yesterday I noticed the freezer door (mostly he middle and bottom) were wet like a glass of ice water in the summer. on one side there is another spot similarly wet.

It is humid, but WTH is going on? the freezer is full (of course) and has been for a while so it also needs a defrost. The motor runs like it is supposed to.

Any ideas?

Is this a problem I need to fix?

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[newbury]

C'mon David -
Your air is probably super saturated and any cool smooth surface can cause condensation. Pump some drier air thru there before mold forms ON the freezer and in places difficult to get to.

It's happened to me before in Northern Virginia.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

C'mon David -
Your air is probably super saturated and any cool smooth surface can cause condensation. Pump some drier air thru there before mold forms ON the freezer and in places difficult to get to.

It's happened to me before in Northern Virginia.

I burned the wood stove for days after the flood, but it is humid and damp...

Thanks!

David

 

[SPYDERLK]

Some old freezers have a door skin heater element to prevent condensation. Yours may have become disconnected or burned out. Dont know whether its still done.

 

[ray66v]

Running the wood stove is really a limited way to remove the moisture. It relies on the warm air that escapes, to draw in outside air that is drier to replace it.

In the winter, the stove dries your house out, because the air that is drawn in to replace the heated air is very dry. If the outside air is very humid, like it usually is this time of year, you don't get that effect.

Your current outdoor humidity level is 96%, so running the wood burner will not get the air your basement any drier than 96% humidity. You need to get it to 50% or below asap, to prevent mold growth.

This job requires dehumidification, from dehumidifiers, or air conditioning to remove this moisture fast.

If it gets warm enough, run your air conditioning as much as possible.

Rental equipment, (i.e. fans, and dehumidifiers), would be ideal, but is likely in short supply, if your area has had flooding.

As stated, you only have a short amount of time to accomplish this before the mold takes over. Then, the job gets harder.

 

[cqaigy2]

ray66v
+++1

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just wipe it down to remove the excess water. The freezer I have in my garage sweats also when the humidity gets high. It isn't a problem and I have never had mold on it but we rarely have more than a few days at a time of really humid weather. THe last week or so has been near 100% all the time with intermittent showers followed by rain then cloudy for a day or two. Finally got some sun yesterday morning but rains moved in in the afternoon. Today its sunny again.
I think the sweating is due to a poorer insulation in the doors and it is only on the door and not on the sides so that is quite common to see it in the south.

 

[3930dave]

My older fridge/freezer has a manual switch in the freezer compartment, that shuts off the door heaters.

I'd start with a dehumidifier etc, as posted, but check for a manual heater switch. I leave my door heaters off in the Winter, and turn them on in the Summer when I see door sweats - I have central AC, but don't run it much.

Rgds, D.

 

[teejk]

Flood...put a humidistat in the basement and take a reading. I'll bet you are "tropical". Do you have windows in the basement that you can put a fan in to "pull" upstairs air through the basement and out? As noted above, your basement will have some mold issues soon if I'm right.

 

[s219]

Humidifier ASAP!!!!!