Gun vault temperature control

[hoz53]

I've done a lot of these......owned 3, have one 30ft from my left elbow right now. I've had very good success using an oil-filled radiant heater (DeLonghi, Pelonis) for completely clean heat and a large enough dehumidifier (unit is about 18Wx22Tx8D) that it has a garden hose outlet (along with the collector pan. It's sometimes hard to find the hose bib on the unit)

I rotohammer an 1 1/8 hole diagonally down thru the footers into the free-draining fill near the footing drains and run a cut-off garden hose into the hole.

Turn it all on and walk away. NO rust on guns and stored paperwork is krinkly-dry.

I've also done a number of underground shooting ranges and a few "safe rooms" for hiding out in........these I've added a ventilation system to.

On my current one I just drilled a few more breather holes into the crawlspace area and have them plugged. If I'm ever required to spend time in the vault I'll pull the plugs. (Mine, and many I've done, is perty stealthed. could hide in it....)

My personal view is that penetrations need be tightly controlled as I'm concerned with oxygen seal in the event of house fire.

yeah i woildnt spend the $ myself on a split system hvac unit. id use some form of electric heater and a dehumidifier and give that a try like you said. shielded in the middle of a building it shouldnt get to hot in the summer.

 

[Shaggy357]

I have the heat and dehumidifier down, but not the cool part. My safes are in their own room in a finished garage. Vapor barrier, padding, and carpet keep the moisture held at floor level. Each safe is on either risers or legs so lower vents can breathe. Each safe has a Goldenrod dehumidifier which is dry heat. The room has a dehumidifier that drains into a sink in the bathroom. The ceiling has an eave fan that keeps the air circulating. No rust, comfortable in the winter. But can get up above 80 in the summer on a 90*+ day with high humidity if I do not keep an eye on it. Humidity detector shows I am good inside, but I have to turn on the AC to cool it down sometimes just to ensure things don't get too warm. I have not found a way to control the AC and the dehumidifier to keep them in sync. They work against each other if I do not monitor them. Either way, a few $$s in electricity seem to keep moisture in check.