Why it’s essential to keep your gun safe at a proper humidity level
According to experts, a dehumidifier is almost a must-have for your gun safe, and the reason is quite simple. Of course, you don’t want the firearms stored in your gun safe to get damaged, right? But that is exactly what’ll happen when the humidity gets to the wooden and metal parts of the gun. Therefore, corrosion and rust are the primary reasons why you require a gun safe dehumidifier for your safe.
It is quite simple to assume that a gun safe will adequately protect your guns. This is a lie that is far from the truth taking into account that these safes usually limit air flow. As a result, moisture will start attacking your firearms except you, of course, take the necessary safety measures. Humidity causes corrosion, mildew, and rusting to your guns’ wood or steel components.
Mold and rust might not only damage your firearms, but can damage the safe as well. Consequently, the only way to guarantee a long life for your gun safe and its content is to invest in a high-quality gun safe dehumidifier.
Dehumidifiers guarantee longer lifespan for gun safes. Fortunately, the market is filled with an abundance of premium-quality dehumidifiers to choose from. We have invested a lot of time to pick the best products when it comes to resisting the threat of excess moisture or humidity.
Types of gun safe dehumidifiers
There are two primary types of dehumidifiers for gun safes on the market – desiccant and electric. If you are a total beginner that doesn’t know what they mean, we will break everything down for you.
Desiccant dehumidifiers
A desiccant dehumidifier utilizes beads to absorb humidity from the air within the gun safe. While they usually come in many various shapes and sizes, all of them contain silica gel packets. The silica gel can absorb only a particular amount of humidity before you will have to remove them from the gun safe for recharging. It’s quite simple to do this – you just need to use heat to vaporize the water. While you can plug in some desiccant dehumidifiers to produce their own heat, others have to be put in an oven to recharge.
Furthermore, desiccant units are the easiest to install or set up, as you just have to put them inside your gun safe. Generally, electric dehumidifiers need that you drill a hole in the gun safe, which may be stressful. Desiccant units are durable and don’t utilize electricity, which means the extra cost to utilizing them is little. You can recharge the beads over and over for many years before it will need replacement.
While desiccant models are cheaper than electric models, you will probably need to change them eventually as the silica gel weakens as a result of its absorption duties.
Electric dehumidifiers
In recent years, electric dehumidifiers are starting to gain popularity for being a premium solution. Using an exposed heating element, these units use heat for moisture evaporation. This kind of dehumidifier is suitable for individuals in excessively humid climates. In general, they are believed to be more powerful than their desiccant counterparts.
Installing them, however, can be complicated as you will have to drill a hole in the gun safe, through which you will run the power cords. While some electric units are battery-operated, they need constant attention.
Besides, they have a tendency of being smaller in size and being less powerful, which makes them unideal for large gun safes. You’ll also need to monitor the temperature in your safe carefully when utilizing an electric unit. While it’s not possible for it to get too hot to be at a risk of exploding, it could make your guns and bullets to be too hot for touch.
Features to consider while choosing a gun safe dehumidifier
There’re many factors that you have to take into consideration before buying a gun safe dehumidifier. Besides, you need to gauge the type of safe you have, particularly if there’s no wire pass through in it.
Below are some key things that you need to remember when shopping for the right gun safe dehumidifier for your needs:
Type
As we already mentioned earlier, there are many types of gun safe dehumidifiers. However, the primary ones are just two and they are desiccant dehumidifiers and electrical dehumidifiers. The desiccant models like the Interteck Packaging Silica Gel Bulk Desiccant Beads and the Hydrosorbent Dehumidifiers Desiccant Drying Unit contain silica gel, which they use to absorb humidity from the air within your gun safe.
On the other hand, the electrical models like the PEET SafeKeeping Dryer and Dehumidifier either require batteries or have to be plugged into a power outlet in order to operate.
Capacity (for desiccant models)
First of all, the absorption capacity of the unit ought to be one of your primary considerations. Every product comes with different specifications that you need to analyze in advance.
Some models on our list use silica gel beads for absorption, which works by absorbing the humidity in the gun safe. For these units, the quantity of the silica gel beads will determine the absorption capacity of the dehumidifier. This means if the silica gel is large in quantity, then the unit will have a high absorption capacity and vice versa.
Therefore, if you are considering buying a silica gel unit, then you need to know that the larger the unit, the higher its capacity to absorb humidity. It goes without saying that this factor influences the effectiveness of a unit.
Coverage area
The coverage area is also an important factor as gun safes often come in different sizes. You need to check the description of the product to know the amount of space the dehumidifier will be able to handle. With that in mind, you’ll be able to know if the model you’re looking at will be able to cover your gun safe.
To make sure that the safe is covered adequately, some people often purchase two dehumidifiers. While the Interteck Packaging Silica Gel Bulk Desiccant Beads has the smallest coverage area on our list, the New and Improved Eva-dry E-333 has the largest.
Power cord length (for electric models)
If you are buying an electric model, then you need to take the length of its power cord into consideration. Normally, electric models often require you to run their cord through a hole in the safe into an outlet. With a short power cord, there are chances that you will really struggle with this.
If it’s rechargeable
So, you have bought a desiccant dehumidifier to keep your firearms safe, which is excellent. But after only a month, you realize that the unit you bought is no longer working. Does this mean you will need to purchase a new one? Well, that’s why you need to buy a product that is rechargeable.
Thankfully, all the desiccant dehumidifiers we have recommended in our list are rechargeable. While the recharging process might require a little effort, you need to ensure your desiccant dehumidifier is properly maintained if you want it to keep preventing humidity from damaging your firearms and even gun safe.
Dimensions
Gun safe dehumidifiers usually come in different sizes and shapes. And based on the size of the units, the amount of space they can cover will vary. So, before making your buying decision, ensure you consider the size of your gun safe and take into account the size of your firearm collection.
Simply put, it makes no sense to purchase a large safe dehumidifier if you have a rather small space. Essentially, this means that your purchase should be dictated by your needs. Otherwise, you will just end up spending a lot more money than necessary.
Extra features
Of course, there are some extra features you still need to take into consideration before making your final buying decision. First of all, you need to know if the product is backed by a warranty. While a company may claim their product will last for a particular number of years, such a claim is nothing without a warranty to back it up.
Additionally, you also need to consider some other things like the design of the unit, and if it comes with indicators to inform users it’s due for renewal.
How to reactivate a desiccant gun safe dehumidifier
Desiccant dehumidifiers usually utilize a special silica gel to absorb the humidity in the air. However, there is only so much they can hold before they will stop working. When they reach their limit, and they stop working, you don’t need to throw the unit away and buy a new one again. You just need to reactivate it instead.
When you get your new desiccant dehumidifier, make sure you read its instructions thoroughly because the reactivation procedure often varies for every product. You, however, basically have to heat up the unit to get rid of the humidity. You will need to heat up the unit or its component in the oven at a high temperature. This process often takes about three to six hours.
While you will have to heat some desiccant dehumidifiers in the oven, others will come with a plug-in system that autonomously heats up the device. When heating the unit in the oven, remember to remove all flammable parts, such as cases or plastic lids.
