My friends (with unheated garages!) assure me that my (barely) heated garage is going to make my car rust faster. Does that make sense? Thanks!
2007-02-20 11:43:06 · 7 answers · asked by Chloe 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The reason we heat our garage to 38 degrees is because there is plumbing in it - and an apartment upstairs.
2007-02-20 12:09:48 · update #1
I can not see how this would affect anything at all.
As far as I know, the only thing that really makes a car rust is road salt / sand and other grit getting thrown at it, and of course, a high level of humidity.
Although heat does affect the way you or I might feel humidity, heat neither increases nor decreases the actual percent of water in the air, well, maybe, but not to any substantial degree such as which would affect rust.
Heat, if anything, makes air expand, so there is actually less mass of air per volume in your garage than if it were colder, and while heat does cause water to evaporate faster, once it's in the air it is there regardless.
Perhaps warmer air has a tendency to be moister in content, but then colder air being denser can hold more moisture per cubic foot, even if the percentage is lower.
So, I think it's one of those arguments where neither side is right or wrong, but just out of curiosity, why do you heat your garage?
2007-02-20 11:52:35 · answer #1 · answered by netthiefx 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Heated Better and very simple.
Melted snow thing. After driving around in your car even with a foot of snow on the roof and no heaters on you will have an area of melted snow next to the roof and bonnet. This will take your salt into your crevices anyway.
Humidity. Is a very complicated bit of maths but basically warm air can suck up more water than cold so will dry your car out. Two lumps of air, both with the same amount of water. Heat one up and it becomes reletively less humid as a percentage as it can hold more water.
We run air driers at work to keep the place below 60% humidity as things don't rust below that. All the air driers do is cool air so the water drops out and then heat it back up and blow it into the room so it can suck more back up.
The simplest way to look at it is you put your socks infront of the fire to dry out. If you left them on the porch over night they would stay wet. If you are the tin man and have metal socks then they'll rust all night long on the porch.
Hope it helps
2007-02-20 12:22:22 · answer #2 · answered by Stephen R 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If it's warm enough to melt the snow and slush every evening, then yes it's going to be worst off. The salt gets active, creeps into the panels and crevices, a recipe for corrosion. An oil type rust protector applied on a yearly basis would be very beneficial to controlling moisture in these places.
2007-02-20 11:56:04 · answer #3 · answered by wheeler 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
all chemical reactions are faster with more heat , so if you have salt on your car it will rust faster ,although 38 is not too warm. why not insulate the ceiling and the area with the plumbing and just heat that?
2007-02-20 13:50:21 · answer #4 · answered by sterling m 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats what I always have heard, when salt and snow get on your car and It's cold it stays there dormant until warm enough to melt and then the salt starts flowing into crevices and cracks and thats where the rust begins over time.
2007-02-20 11:53:27 · answer #5 · answered by mister ss 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would find that a heated garage with a low humidity would dry out any moisture that would build up from bad weather.
2007-02-20 11:53:56 · answer #6 · answered by dVille 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They are just pissed you have a heated garage! Never heard of such a thing.
2007-02-20 11:52:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋