Anyone Have A New Idea To Keep Moisture Out Of Home Safe

Remember that those gel packs of any kind have a limit as to what they can absorb. Using them is OK but if ignored over a period of time, they become not only useless, but could also start to emit moisture containing other substances. Inside a safe with no air that moisture becomes stagnet and sits on your coins more so than leaving them on a kitchen table. People rely on those gel packs a little to much and forget them eventually creating a high humidity invironment that doesn't change.
Any safe is good and bad for so many reasons. Every time you open one, you change the air inside and add any new moisture from outside. During a fire a safe may not burn but will get hot. Any plastic inside will melt and/or give off fumes that will not help the coins at all. There are air conditioned safes available but remember the A/C system is electrical and will possibly run a real lot or most of the time so the electric bill is something to consider. And on those if the A/C unit should fail, you may not notice it for a long time.
I'm in Illinois and our outside humidity is at times like the worst anywhere. Example is today the humidity outside is 86%. Any coins I have not in a safe deposit box are in my basement and with a really good dehumidifier, my hygrometer usually shows about 28% to 32%. Even on days like today. And of course all Albums are in Zip Lock bags just in case.

Get one of those small fire and water proof boxes and put silica gel packs in there along with your coins, then put that box into your safe. That will also provide some fire protection. You can get them at Walmart for about $30-40 IIRC.

I've had good luck with a Golden Rod dehumidifier too. Used one for over 10 years and no rust on my guns.

Absolutely true. Mine is in my basement near a floor drain. The bucket that collects water has a hose that runs to that floor drain and it really pumps out the humidity.
At one time I tried a pile of those gel packs in the basement. After several days the hygrometer read 45% to 50%. Put the dehumidifier back on and it dropped to 28% to 32% in one day.

I have something that might work, but as I don't have a safe, I can't test it.

I wear hearing aids and each night I place them in with Hal-Hen drying beads. It's a small jar filled with tan and blue beads. The beads remove all of the moisture from the hearing aids.

I'm sure you could buy one or more jars at about $20 each and set them open in a safe with your coins to keep the moisture level down to a point that would help protect the coins. When the top is off of the jar, the beads are held in place by a small piece of foam that allows moisture to pass through to the beads underneath.

As time passes and the beads remove moisture, the blue beads change color to let you know they need to be recharged. To remove the moisture from the beads, all you have to do is place them on a pan in the oven and dry them out again. Once a small amount of beads turn blue again, they are ready to use, and this can be done over and over.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Super-Dri-Aid-Hearing-Dehumidifier/dp/B000B7I8FQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1314516557&sr=1-2">
Click here to see what I'm talking about.[/url]

I've even seen them on ebay for around $10.

Just an idea, if it keeps my $5000 hearing aids dry and working, it should work to keep coins nice and dry.

I use a product called "SORB-IT" Comes is compact 3" X 5" packs.

There are plug-in strips that elevate the temperature slightly, driving off moisture. Even a single low wattage conventional bulb will work.

regardless of how low a wattage, as long as it is on, heat will build up. That would make for a great experiment. Just how hot would it get in a safe that is air tight if a bulb was inside lite all the time. And then too, just how would you get the electrical wiring in to that bulb?
As to the Rice idea, remember that Rice, Silica Gel packs or any moisture absorbers require maintenance. The worst part of those is depending on how many times you open that safe. Every time more moisture goes in.


I missed that on your second reply. I thought you were talking about a regular safe. Most gun safes are made to keep people out. Not usually air tight but some are a bit on the fire proof side to protect against explosions of ammunition in case of a fire. At a store near me called Menards,they have many gun safes and I was investigating them not long ago. Only one stated air tight. All others did not mention air tightness at all. A few actually stated not intended for fire protection. One more thing you should check on with yours.

Ziplocks and tupperwares, create micro environments. The silica gel needs to be INSIDE the ziplock/tupperware with the coins. The silica will absorb most of the moisture inside the bag/tupperware and the seal will keep more moisture from entering unless you physically open it. Multiple bags/boxes also let you only open the ones with the coins you want to look at while the bags/boxes keep the rest of the coins dry when you open the safe door. Use indicating silica gel so you will be able to see when it needs recharging.