Best Defense for Gun Room Humidity?

[MT1]

I'm looking for suggestions to control humidity in a basement gun room.

Here's the scenario... I have a finished basement fully below grade. I have never had water in the basement but in the peak of summer and after multiple rainy days the humidity level increases noticeably. My house sits on a small hill with good elevation, basement walls are poured and I have abundant gravel in the backfill on the exterior. All of my downspouts are tied into an underground drainage system that releases the water at the bottom of the hill, over 50 foot from the house. Humidity in the common area of the basement is easily controlled with a dehumidifier, oscillating pedestal fan to circulate air, and keeping door on the first floor open for circulation. My gun room is in the corner of the basement behind 2 locked doors. It is approx. 12x15. When the humidity peaks I find an occasional plume of mildew/mold. It only grows on leather slings, canvas, unfinished wood, etc... Once spotted it's easily killed with a quick swipe of a Lysol wipe.

I've tried a full size dehumidifier but it in increases the heat in the room to an uncomfortable level. Uncomfortable as in hot, 80+ degrees. I'm looking for alternate ideas that will not drastically increase the room temp.

Some of the ideas I'm considering are below. I'll probably go with a combination of all but wanted to see if anyone here has additional thoughts.

UV Light Strip - To kill mold UV requires 2 elements, exposure and dwell time. Some spores are killed instantly while others take several days of exposure to the UV light. If I leave the light on whenever I'm not in the room I'll have both of these met. I'd mount it on the ceiling for best coverage of the room.

Golden Rod - I have one in my safe and know from experience they do make a difference. I keep most of my leather holsters in the safe to avoid any exposure to mildew. Mounting one on the ceiling opposite of the UV light will keep it out of the way.

Desiccant - I'll get two of the pint or quart size cans so I can rotate them.

Small Dehumidifier - I had not thought of this until I found them on Amazon while looking for desiccant. I can get a small one that's made for a walk-in closet for around $35. If these are as quiet as claimed I may get others for the rest of the basement.


Is getting all four of the above overkill? The dehumidifier and desiccant basically do the same thing. I'm often out of town so I thought the desiccant would be a good back up once the dehumidifier fills. For all round control I figured it would be best to have several approaches; kill the spores (UV), create light ambient heat (Goldenrod), remove the water from the air (desiccant and dehumidifier).

What do you guys think?