Why does nobody talk about the humidity in Florida basements for control panels?

I was installing a system in a house near Tampa last month and found the main panel had condensation inside after just two weeks. The homeowner called because a sensor kept faulting, and it turned out the moisture messed with the board connections. What's your go-to trick for keeping panels dry in really damp spots like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_evan2d ago

What if, masonpark, the real issue is how humidity changes the air's conductivity around those connections?

masonpark2d ago

Honestly I feel like people make too big a deal out of humidity. Maybe the install just wasn't done right. I mean, panels are built to handle some moisture, it's not like they're made of paper. I've seen plenty of old panels in Florida that work fine without any extra gadgets. Sometimes a fault is just a bad connection or a cheap part, not the weather. Adding all that extra stuff for dryness seems like a fix for a problem that isn't always there.