I keep a motorcycle outdoors under a waterproof cover, but noticed that with morning dew the bike is still noticeablely wet on the inside of the cover.
Meanwhile a buddy has his bike in a plywood shed that is by no means air tight but has 4 walls and a roof, but no insulation or air handling fans/AC and he says dew is never an issue..what’s the difference?
In: Planetary Science
The amount of water air can carry is dependent on temperature.
At 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the air can hold at maximum 4.8 grams of water per cubic meter of air.
At 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the air can hold approximately 10x more water in the same volume of air.
“Relative” humidity is the percentage of max capacity, 4.8 grams of water per M3 on a cold winter day is a clammy 100% relative humidity. 4.8 grams of water per M3 is today’s bone dry forecast for Death Valley.
Back to the motorcycle, your friend’s shed is still a lot more insulating than your motorcycle cover. The shed is going to warm up from the sun all day, and the air inside will stay warmer overnight compared to the air outside. Warm air is drier air, it’s not cooling down enough to squeeze out the moisture onto his motorcycle, if anything the windows would be the coldest part of the shed and where water condenses first.
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