Hunting Shack Ventilation

[Tutone]

We have an old trailer house (54 x 12) for a hunting shack up north in the woods. We really only use it in the fall through the end of firearms season (end of November). It is always musty / moldy smelling when we go up. I was thinking about putting a turbine ventilator and some intake vents in to get some fresh air in. We have no power at the site. We are in a wooded area so really do not see much for wind to spin the turbine. We do not have any roof leaks.

Anybody have ideas to keep it smelling fresh? Thanks!

[Tom7227]

I doubt that a turbine would do much more than just regular vents. The problem is that the place gets full of moisture while you're using it from wet clothes, cooking, maybe showers. Crank up the heat the last day you use it and open the place up so that it airs out. The other issue may be moisture coming up from the bottom. If you have heavy skirting without vents there could be moisture coming up from below. How do you discharge the sink? if it runs under the unit it drops a lot of moisture under it. Try and run a line so that any water from a sink or a shower gets out from under the rig.

A cousin's hinting shack had a similar problem and we put some vents in at the top of the ridge. We set them up so we could close them when we were there to keep the heat in and then opened them up when we left. Problem solved.

[cavalierowner]

If you can add a couple decent size louvers low near the floor and a couple decent size louvers high near the ceiling, and on opposite walls, then you will get a stack effect moving air through the shack. If there are any interior walls with doors, leave the doors open so there are no "dead" rooms. If this is a typical trailer house with a very low slope roof, I would be hesitant about putting any kind of ventilator on the roof for fear of leaks over time.

[Tutone]

We do have skirting, never thought about the moisture coming up. We should have enough ventilation because there are a bunch of openings (gaps). I was planning to put the ventilator out the side not the roof. We put a rubber roof on and are not going to punch ANY holes in it! I think i am going to put vents high on one end and low on the other end. I am planning to use registers that we can close while up hunting. Thanks for the tips!

[Tom7227]

Again I am willing to bet that your discharge from sinks and shower are within 10 feet of the building and a source of your problem. Get some skinny kid to spread some heavy poly under the unit and toss a few rocks over it to hold it down. Then extend the drain lines out so the water gets further away from the unit. Bet that solves the problem.

[Tutone]

We do have a sink drain that dumps under the trailer. we dont use too much water, but redirecting has gotta help. We dont have running water so just some hand washing using water from a jug. Putting poly down under the trailer is a good idea. It looks like most of the insulation under the trailer has been removed or is not properly installed.

[Tom7227]

A bit off the subject = but

My cousin had a nice setup at his hunting shack. A 15 gallon steel drum on top of a turkey cooker propane heater. A bung off the bottom hooked up to a hose, then a 12 volt RV water pump that had a pressure bypass on it, more hose and a spray nozzle. An outdoor thermometer with a pigtail for the outside temp told us when the water was 105 degrees. I bet the whole thing didn't cost $150.

Tough to beat a shower after rooshling around in the woods for a few days.