Goldenrod gun safe dehumidifier questions

[tcpip95]

For those of you that are familiar with these, can you answer a couple of questions on them:

1. Do the Goldenrod dehumidifiers have an on/off switch or are they always on when plugged in?
2. I am going to need to leave this in an unattended gun safe in a secured storage facility that is NOT climate controlled. Can I just plug this in (safe has power inside it) and leave it on 24/7/365 or will that dry out gun stocks over time?
3. The winter temperatures at this location drop down into the teens in the winter. Will this be able to keep up with the relative humidity requirements of 45% - 60%?

I am also thinking of plugging the Goldenrod dehumidifier into a humidity controller that will turn it on/off based on the RH sensed inside the safe. This way the RH could be maintained by this unit turning the Goldenrod on/off (hence the reason for Question #1 above)

 

[Afhunter1]

I have one in my safe in my house. It is obviously not exposed to weather but it has been “on” 24/7/365 for years. Actually just touched it the other day to see if it was still working and it was pretty warm.

 

[Theringworm]

As Afhunter1 said, mine has been plugged in for 16+ years. Still kicking. Leave it and forget it.

 

[Tmac]

My safe is in an unheated garage. Going on 15 years, plugged in and left alone. They do not put off enough heat to create too low humidity issues that I have seen. They add just enough warm temp differential to keep humidity low enough there are no rust issues.

 

[5 shot group]

Golden rods don't actually remove any moisture. They work by raising the internal temperature of the safe and contents and thus raising the dew point, decreasing moisture from collecting on objects. They claim that the warm air created by the rod escapes out the top of your safe, driving the moisture out with it. Cooler air then enters the safe from the bottom of your door seal and the process continues. How well this actually works, idk

If you want to remove the moisture, then you need some sort of a silica gel pack. I use 2 eva-dry units, even though i only need one. When i bought my safe, I bought one. Then when my safe was delivered, they gave me one, so I just use them both.

 

[Crowmangler]

I've also used them for years 24/7/365 & no issues. If you want extra peace of mind you can get something like Damp-Rid & put in there with it