Do you own a gun safe? Do you have firearms inside that safe that mean a lot to you, or ones that you spent your whole saving accounts on? Well, there are a plenty of reasons to be interested in gun safe dehumidifiers, if so.
What are gun safe dehumidifiers? Gun safe dehumidifiers are made to take out all moisture and humidity from your gun safe. Gun safes can cause a lot of negative effects to the guns inside without the presence of one of these devices, so it is important to have access to one as a gun owner.
Many people have never thought about what goes on behind the scenes of their gun safes. You put your items inside there neatly and shut the door and hear the click of the lock and walk away.
But have you ever thought that they could be in there with the metal slowly corroding from rust and the wood slowly getting ruined from mildew? Keep reading to find out how dehumidifiers can combat the potential damages that result from these common occurrences.
Gun Safe Dehumidifiers 101: What You Need to Know
A gun safe dehumidifier is not a bad idea for gun owners at all. In fact, it will be a great investment for anyone who has spent money on guns and a gun safe to protect them.
If you have guns that mean a lot to you and want to keep them safe, this is a great way to do so. We all know that a firearm is not a cheap piece of metal, or wood.
The last thing you want is for your gun to get mildew on them or even rust from the moisture in the air. The best way to prevent this is the dehumidifier. Before you decide to purchase one, read the details and read reviews on the different types of dehumidifiers.
You are going to want to do your research. Doing your research is going to help you greatly decide what you want and what is best for you. Do you want to be eco-friendly and go with a non-power source one?
Or are you worried about children or pets getting a hold of the dehumidifier? You are able to buy ones that are non-toxic. Let’s see the details on what we need to know about gun safe dehumidifiers.
Gun Safe Dehumidifiers:
- Mini dehumidifier
- Takes out humidity/moisture
- Prevents mildew, corrosion, etc.
A gun safe dehumidifier is a mini dehumidifier that takes out all the humidity and moisture inside the gun safe. A safe is locked airtight so the air that is inside of it has no way to escape. It forms humidity and moisture.
Moisture causes rust and mildew. Rust causes corrosion. Corrosion causes an expensive gun refurbish bill, or worse having to purchase a brand-new firearm. The humidity is very bad for firearms as well as ammunition, even bow and arrows and coins.
Guns are made up of sorts of metals and wood. It may seem crazy that this is even possible, but you just must think about the air movement inside a safe…there is none. It is tightly secured so nothing is getting in…or out in that matter.
The way that a gun safe dehumidifier works is just like a regular dehumidifier. Some of these alter the temperature inside the safe a little higher than the outside air.
Doing this reduces the amount of moisture in the air and it prevents the guns from becoming damaged. Other ones use silica beads to suck up all moisture from the air and keep the items safe.
Due to no air flow, humidity takes over after a while and starts to affect your guns and ammunition. This is something that not many people think about. It’s something that would not even cross many people’s minds. You put your guns in the safe and now they are safe.
They are safe from natural disasters and they are safe from burglars. But they are not safe from the natural effects of humidity. A solution has been found for these issues, and we call it the Gun Safe Dehumidifier.
Let us get a better understanding of what the gun safe dehumidifier is and what the functions are. Or, in other words, how this object is going to benefit your guns and prized possessions that you store inside your safe.
Gun safe dehumidifiers are becoming more and more popular by the day. I bet you did not even know there was such a thing. But if you think about it, there is no air getting into your safe on a regular basis.
The guns and other items are locked up tight…and safe. No air flow equals humidity. What better way to fix this than a gun safe dehumidifier! This is going to take away the moisture that is being built up in the safe.
Gun safes do not get opened much. The air gets stale and can cause bad things to go on from one hunting season to the next. To add to the excitement of the gun safe dehumidifiers, they are reasonably priced!
You can find these dehumidifiers at a low cost, as well as a high one. It all depends on how big your safe is, or how much you are looking to spend. Today, we are going to give you all the in-depth details on the new hype of gun safe dehumidifiers.
But before we do so, lets talk about a hygrometer. Before you purchase a dehumidifier, you should test the level of humidity in your safe. Hygrometer’s are devices that give you the percentage of humidity in any given vicinity.
You can purchase a decent one of these for about $30. There are all different types. You can buy one that you place on the inside. If you do this type, you need to let it sit in there for a while before checking it.
The humidity isn’t going to pick up right away. The door will have to be shut for some time. There are also ones where you can put a suction inside and have the pad on the outside.
The pad is going to be where it tells you the humidity percentage. You do have to remember though; the hygrometer will not give the accurate percentage right away.
You are going to have to wait until the door on the safe has been closed for a bit. Or if you want to get fancy, you can use a thermal gun hygrometer. This one will work instantly, as long as the door has been shut for a while.
These are going to be the most accurate, however, they are also the most expensive. It will depend on your spending limit.
If you find out from the hygrometer that your gun safe is lower than 65% humidity, you are basically in the clear. Anything above that you will want to purchase a dehumidifier.
Honestly, if your guns and ammunition and items that you store in your safe mean a lot to you, I would purchase one just for the ease of mind.
If you decide against the dehumidifier, try one of these alternatives. Spray them down with corrosion inhibitor. This will protect them from corroding or rusting. Say you walked back from your deer stand in the rain.
You may have missed a spot when you were drying it off and now it is put away in your safe. While it is going to start to rust while it dries slowly in the stale air. It’s also going to get the effect of the humidity on top of that.
To prevent it from rusting or corroding, spray the corrosion inhibitor on it after taking it out. Another way that can keep your gun safe from rust, mildew and corrosion is a gun sock.
A gun sock is exactly what it sounds like. It is a sock that you place over your firearm to prevent it from scratches and dents as well as corrosion. Just make sure this gun sock has been treated with silica. This will keep it dry.
Now, lets get into more detail about the types of gun safe dehumidifiers that are available to you.
Types of Gun Safe Dehumidifiers
There are a couple different types of gun safe dehumidifiers. Some use electricity and some use nothing but the silica beads. There are some that are even battery powered silica beaded. Corded ones and no cords.
There are some that just plug in as well as some that have no battery and no electricity. Before deciding which kind that you want. Let us go deeper into details.
The two main different types of gun safe dehumidifiers are:
- Desiccant (Silica Beads)
- Electric Rod
The desiccant, also known as a silica beaded dehumidifier, seems to be pretty popular. The silica beads soak up all moisture turning the beads colored. When the beads are a certain color, the dehumidifier needs to be recharged.
Every silica beaded dehumidifier is going to be different on the amount of time it takes before recharging. The ones that use an outlet to be recharged are going to be different than the ones that just need to sit out to dry.
The silica beaded dehumidifiers generally take between 4-6 weeks in time before having to be recharged. To recharge these you need usually just plug it into an outlet and let the bead crystals dry up.
It takes about 10 hours to do so. Don’t worry though, in these 10 hours the humidity isn’t going to form enough moisture in your safe to start effecting your firearms while the dehumidifier is charging up.
You can even leave it open while the beads are drying out, unless you have children that you are worried about getting in the safe in those 10 hours. Definitely lock it up then.
The other type of gun safe dehumidifier is the electric rod dehumidifiers. The rods run on a 24-hour basis. Depending on how high you want the heat to go, the dehumidifier can go up to 38 watts on most. Some are more, some are less. It depends on the size.
These use outlets so you need to make sure that your gun safe is close to one. The plug in on these rods is removable so you can guide it through a hole in the safe.
Many people seem to be afraid of these due to the amount of heat that they give out in a small area. Some think it will start a fire, which is understandable.
You will not have to worry about a fire though, unless you don’t use it properly. If you are going to choose this type of dehumidifier, you need to take a good look at your gun safe. You need to search for a hole in there where you are able to run cords or wire through.
Your gun safe is going to have to be located near an outlet so it can be plugged in. Do not try to string the cord outside of the safe by just shutting it in the door. The doors are not made to have any type of debris in the way.
They are made to be airtight. So if you are worried about a fire, do not do it this way. Find the hole and string the cord through there. If your safe is older, you are more than likely going to have to drill your own. Make sure you have the proper tools to do so. You do not want to damage your safe, or yourself.
Regardless of which one you choose, gun safe dehumidifiers themselves are pretty self-explanatory. Depending on the type you decide to purchase, one of the above, you will be using it differently.
The electric ones you are going to have to plug in. So your safe is going to have to be close to an outlet. Most of the electrical dehumidifiers are rods.
They can be placed on the top of the safe inside, or on the bottom as well. You just must turn it on and let it take charge.
Do I Need a Dehumidifier for My Gun Safe?
Before purchasing one of these dehumidifiers, go out and try the hygrometer. This will answer your question on needing one for your safe or not. When you do feel that you need a dehumidifier, though, there are a number of factors you should consider.
Factors To Consider:
- How protective you are over your firearms/ammo
- How serious you are about avoiding damages
But, if you are protective over your firearms and all your ammunition and if you see these items as a prized possession, then yes, you should go out and purchase a gun safe dehumidifier.
Because with these things, you are going to know for sure that your guns and ammunition and what ever else you carry in that gun safe are well protected from the effects of humid air.
Having a dehumidifier in your gun safe is your option. If you are big about your firearms, it would not be a bad idea. Having a dehumidifier in your safe is going to protect your guns and your ammo from rust and corrosion as well as mildew on the wood.
Most people treat their guns like family. Again, they are not a cheap product to own, so no use in letting them get ruined by keeping them safe.
Something that is very nice about the gun save dehumidifiers is that most of them are guaranteed to work. They also come with warranties.
You can buy the amount of warranty you want, but the most common warranty is 5 year, and this comes along with the product as long as you register it.
This warranty is basically for the silica bead dehumidifiers. The rod dehumidifiers I have found are lifetime warrantied because they believe they will work forever, and if not, well hey you can get a new one.
Another thing that you should do before purchasing one of these gun safe dehumidifiers is reading reviews. This will help you be at ease with which one that you are going to decide on.
The reviews are going to give you the pros and cons of each product. This is going to help you pick the perfect one.
Also, you should do research on each dehumidifier. Figure out what one is going to be able to accommodate the space of your gun safe. If you are leaning more towards the silica beaded dehumidifier, then you are going to need to see if you will need one or two of these.
This is going to go by the cubic feet of the safe. If you are going to lean toward the electric rod, you will have to know the approximate humidity level inside the gun safe.
You can figure out the percentage of the humidity by purchasing a hygrometer. This is going to be a digital or thermal. Above we stated the details of the hygrometers.
Now you are all set to purchase your first gun safe dehumidifier. You have a lot to investigate and a lot to think about before purchasing one. You have the information that you need to be able to make the right decision.