Ollie-Haus

FYI for @DaveK and @Patriot, when you receive the dehumidifier from Amazon, take it out of the box and set it upright on the counter and let it rest unplugged for 24 hours before you turn it on the first time. Like all refrigeration based appliances, if it’s turned on it’s side during shipping, it must be allowed to set in the upright position for 24 hours to make sure the liquified freon and the oils inside drain back to where they normally are during normal operation. This of course applies any time the unit is allowed to lay on its side or upside down. It will certainly be handled like any other package during shipping so don’t forget to perform this procedure to safeguard the internal systems. 👍

Hi Dave, sorry it took so long to respond. I leave our Oliver plugged into shore power when parked at home, and with the lithium system there is never a complete “power outage” that occurs in our situation because it takes over when the grid power blinks or goes out temporarily. For that reason I couldn’t answer your question without running an actual test of the dehumidifier’s recovery system. Well I did that this morning in the garage by shutting down the circuit I had the appliance plugged into for a minute, and you’ll be pleased to know that the dehumidifier comes back on at the previous setting when power is restored. I hope this helps you and others in deciding whether to invest in one. 👍

That’s interesting your experience with the dehumidifier. Which brand/model did you purchase? There are two primary design principles for electric dehumidifiers, the desiccant principle and the refrigeration principle. Desiccant dehumidifiers only work well at warmer temperatures and loose efficiency quickly as temps drop below 60 degrees, and in general they don’t rate very well in consumer reviews. Refrigeration type dehumidifiers work much more efficiently all the way down to near freezing. Most commercial dehumidifiers work on this design principle. The model I referenced in my post operates on the refrigeration design and you can literally watch the humidity in the Oliver cabin drop on a hydrometer while it’s running. But the best gauge for humidity and comfort is my wife, and she loves the effectiveness of the little dehumidifier we are using. As a matter of fact, the identical model runs in our bedroom at home every night. 😆

We did not have any fresh air coming in for this particular situation as the humidity outside was considerably higher than inside the camper. One unique characteristic of the Oliver design is you are sealed into a “plastic bubble”, if you will. Normally you will want to ventilate to alleviate the tendency to build up moisture in the cabin, but in this situation bringing in outside air would have reduced the comfort level significantly. My point in the original post was that while we were experiencing cool, rainy, humid weather outside, the comfort level in the Oliver was able to be maintained by only using the portable dehumidifier. Using the Air conditioner would have made the cabin chilled inside in order to try and control humidity, and turning on the ventilation fan only introduced cool air while increasing the already humid conditions inside. It was kind of a third option to use the humidifier only, and turned out to be very effective in keeping the humidity under control. The side benefit was the humidifier puts off a noticeable amount of heat so it actually warmed the inside of the camper while reducing the humidity. Thus not needing the AC or furnace in these particular conditions. You could always crack open a couple windows for ventilation, we just chose not to because it was so comfortable throughout the night. Again, with experience you will find that the one thing everyone battles in an Oliver is humidity. The AC works marginally at best regarding humidity control, and if the outside humidity is high with lower temperatures, it’s a losing battle. The dehumidifier is a game changer for us and an essential tool in the arsenal of comfort ( think menopause 🙄). 😆 Regarding the AC and fresh air intake, the AC only recirculates cabin air, therefore the ventilation fans and open windows are the only option. I don’t think CO2 is a problem, although some may be sensitive to slightly increased levels. It would be interesting to bring a CO2 monitor into an Oliver to test levels inside for different scenarios. On the other hand stale air is always the issue with the camper sealed tightly so some ventilation is usually the solution. Hopefully this helps answer your questions.

You can get smooth white Kytex sheet from McMaster Carr and cut it and bend it with a heat gun and some wood blocks into a Z shape and attach to the side of the fiberglass with clear double sided silicone tape. I did this to the curb lights on our Oliver to redirect the curb lights straight down. For that I used some extruded aluminum Z channel, cut to 5" long, painted white and attached with the same double sided tape. I couldn't find aluminum Z channel big enough for the porch lights. The attached pictures illustrate the concept. Kydex: https://www.mcmaster.com/8650K12-8650K123/ Aluminum "Z": https://www.mcmaster.com/7062T32-7062T323/

I’ve picked up an EcoFlow dc/dc charger that’s going to be installed in the truck for the purpose of fast charging the EcoFlow lithium battery we keep in the truck for the same refrigerator purposes. For us redundancy is a necessity. 👍

The hose is soft and pliable even in cold temps. It rebounds to its original flat shape, self draining in the process. I roll mine up in a flat coil for storage. It’s specifically for potable water. When pressurized, if it gets a kink, just give the hose a flip and the kink pops out. We’re a year into this hose and won’t be going back to a “ regular” hose ever again. It comes with a very good warranty on top of all that. Home Depot is the source.

Yes, and if you run it on normal setting with a humidity set point, the compressor cycles on and off. The power consumption drops to around 30 watts while the fan alone runs and the compressor is off. This little guy sips power. 👍

Another benefit to the dehumidifier is if you run it while running the AC on a normal cooling cycle, it helps reduce the humidity spikes that occur when the AC compressor shuts off. The comfort level in the Oliver is much improved in this scenario.

We have two of these we use at home and in the Oliver and they both have performed flawlessly for the past 18 months, and the one in OllieHaus bounces down the road while traveling. We rap in a blanket and set it upright on the floor while traveling.

Glad you pointed this out. I did measure load in the camper that morning and on high it was drawing 1.75 amps / 125 watts. Regarding when we use this, I leave it on all the time while in storage and plugged in to keep humidity low in the Oliver during storage. For the situation this post was referring to, we were without power in the park due to storms, and the very low draw allowed us to remain in total comfort running only the dehumidifier throughout the night, and in the morning we still had 69% of our lithium batteries (640 a/h system) remaining on the Victron meter. We are currently reroute home so I will answer additional questions this evening.

@mossemi I had to correct the attached Amazon Link. Should work now.

This is a duplicate of a post I made on the Facebook Oliver owner’s page. I’m sharing here for those not on Facebook that may be interested in a dehumidifier option for their Oliver. We were experiencing rainy and cool weather at the rally and conditions in the Olivers were getting steamy. Facebook post: Temperature and humidity outside at Lake Guntersville state park are 62deg and 94% humidity this morning. Inside OllieHaus it’s a perfect 73 deg and thanks to our counter top dehumidifier, it’s a very comfortable 46% humidity with all windows closed. No heat or AC needed. Loving life in our Oliver!! Edit: Here’s a link on Amazon for the dehumidifier if interested: Dehumidifier

Hey Steve, nice of you to do this again this season. Site G34, Ollie-Haus, Chris and Stacie along with Hallie and Cohen, from Indiana traveling in Ollie-Haus which is #1373.

We like the duel zone especially because we definitely need extra freezer space while traveling, but it’s also nice to have fridge space while exploring away from the camp site. Drinks and cold foods like sandwiches, hard boiled eggs and such are kept cool in the fridge side. Set up properly the system operates 24/7 with little involvement.