Hi all,
I’m in the process of creating a pain cave in my shed. The shed is new and I’m thinking of installing extractor fans/ventilation to help reduce mould/condensation. Has anyone done anything similar and how did you ventilate your cave? I’m thinking of some permanent high/low vents but also a bathroom extractor fan behind the bike.
Thanks
Only thing about extractors is where is the air coming from that replaces it.
I have 8 fans of varying sizes, including a ceiling fan. All the fans are Vornado except a Lasko Pro, and the ceiling fan. I also have a ‘mini-split’ A/C system, and a ‘cassette’ over the bike. I still get lots of sweat, and on an hour ride can raise the temperature 3 or 4 degrees, even with everything running. I have to close the door to the room which I’m sure isn’t helping with heat dissipation, but we do what we have to do.
I wish I could think of a better way to do the cooling, and humidity removal. I do sometimes run the cassette on ‘dehumidify mode’ and it actually does provide some cooling. The cassette just won’t cause you to blow tons of condensate out while you are riding like if you were standing at the top of an amazing ski run. (I do feel a chill sometimes on a cool down, but not every time. 
)
The ‘replacement air’ is called ‘make up air’, and it’s a real thing in some homes. If someone puts in a commercial style range with a big hood, that vent can cause the draft in any gas appliances, and fire places, to reverse, causing a real problem with carbon monoxide. Providing make up air can get to be expensive. Always think of where that air you are pulling out is coming from. (Sorry so long, but that last bit did bite us in the butt)
Oh, if the ‘shed’ is standalone with power, getting a ‘window shaker’ and installing it permanently would/could go a long way to making you comfortable, both cooling and humidity removal. (Weird but ‘cooling’ itself doesn’t remove humidity like the ‘dehumidifier’ setting on this mini-split system, so if the shaker has a dehumidifier setting, go for it) Hope this makes sense…
What is your climate?
UK
So that means ‘Yes’? Especially this year, hot much? 
I’m not too bothered about the heat, it is more the long term humidity. I’m thinking of a simple bathroom fan with a 4 high/low fixed vents. The bathroom fan would automatically stay on for half an hour after I’ve finished a workout.
Im currently using the conservatory for a pain cave and it gets really chilly in there in over the winter/spring.
I have a bathroom fan with a humidistat in it. It runs faster when the humidity rises and then slows down when it’s dryer. Sounds perfect for your new ‘painshed’. It’ll keep the air moving at a low level when unoccupied, and then work when it needs to, but get lots of fans too… 
(I’m seriously thinking of adding another fan. The lights might dim when I start everything up)
You can get ventilation with heat recovery (search Blauberg Vento, for instance)
I’m in north east Scotland, it’s really damp with high humidity here. my pain cave is a detached double garage, I just leave the double door open for ventilation. Never had any problems with damp. When it’s 10degrees below zero in the depths of winter I put on some long sleeve base layers and a hooded fleece which come off as I warm up.
When you say a shed do you mean like a typical UK garden shed?
Pretty much. It has extra thick external cladding, added internal cladding and a reinforced floor. It feels like a cabin inside.
Portable AC unit. Cooling and dehumidifier in one.
Why not just get a dehumidifier?
Here in Ireland, my shed is my paincave and bar/ mancave. It’s insulated, with a vapour block underneath the osb wallboards. I have books and other paper material out there and haven’t noticed them getting damp over 3 years now with the below high tech ventilation solution (and 3 vacmaster air movers).
The child safety thing to stop it blowing closed, the short cord to stop it blowing wide open/ damaging the hinges.
