Room Humidifier

[insguy]

While reading another post about humidifiers, it struck me that it might be easier to just keep the room humid. All of my guitars are stored in my den, so adding humidity to the air in that room would do the trick. However, I'm not sure the typical humidifier you buy at the drug store can be controlled to keep the humidity within a certain range...they might overshoot the mark!

 

Does anyone have a recommendation? I'd very much appreciate any input you have to offer.

 

P.S. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

[Jayla]

Here are a number of threads discussing room humidifiers. Happy reading!

 

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/topic/72930

 

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/topic/72444

 

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/reply/769138#reply-769138

 

http://collingsforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/94760485/m/6651029104?r=2911020904#2911020904

 

http://collingsforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/94760485/m/1241069003?r=3111060103#3111060103

[insguy]

Jayla, thanks for the links. I've just perused all and it sounds like a warm mist humidifier and a hygrometer is the setup I need.

[Jayla]

Once you've got it up and running, let us know how it works.

[wonderful remark]

Here is my humidifier.

 

 

paid $40 bux at Walmart, works just fine...

 

on the other hand..

 

We've had this humidifier for a year... and the worst one I've owned so far..

 

 

 

Very leaky and hard to keep it clean.. the only good thing about it is that it is quite.

[Honky Dog]

Jeff, is it quiet? How often does it have to be refilled?

[wonderful remark]

the bionare humidifier is okay, it has a fan in it and you could hear the fan running and it doesn't bother me at all.

Once you fill the tank it lasts you 24 hours.

 

 

the honeywell one is pretty quite and cool moist.. but I don't recommend it....

[Honky Dog]

the bionare humidifier is okay' date=' it has a fan in it and you could hear the fan running and it doesn't bother me at all.

Once you fill the tank it lasts you 24 hours.

 

 

the honeywell one is pretty quite and cool moist.. but I don't recommend it....[/quote']

 

Thanks

[brians356]

It is probably easier (and cheaper) to raise the humidity in a room by lowering the temperature than running a humidifier.

 

What is the humidity where you store your guitars? If you have them all hanging on the walls, or on guitar stands in the living (warmest) area you may indeed have a problem, but in any case a decent hygrometer will tell you where you stand. I live in very dry Nevada, yet in the coldest winter weather (such as we had last week) my warmest room only dropped to 43% relative humidity (RH.) Optimum for guitars is 47%. Now, please bear in mind I keep the heated rooms no warmer than 67f in winter, which is admittedly spartan for many families. If I drop it to 58f (like overnight or when I am away at work all day) the RH comes back up to 47% or higher.

 

So that was the "Eureka!" moment: Simply select a spare room or large closet in your house that stays cool in the winter. I have a small spare bedroom with an outside wall that I use for storage, with the floor vents blocked and the door closed. This room never gets heated, yet never gets really cold. The RH in there stays between 45-50, which is perfect! So now I keep all my guitars, cased, in that room, unless I am playing or working on one. And I can lock the door which may at least slow down a thief.

 

 

Keep in mind a few percentage points below optimum, say 40% RH, isn't going to instantly crack your guitar. It takes weeks for fret ends to start poking out and a top to sag enough to alter the action, and probably months for a crack to appear.

 

Note that you should calibrate your hygrometer. Switch on the Weather Channel and see what current RH they report for your locale, then take your guage outside for 10 minutes and see if it is close.

[ballcorner]

I use a Vicks humidifier running full time on the low setting, and in the same room I have a dehumidifier set at 45%. If the humidifier pushes things to 50%, the dehumidifier settles it back down to 45% in a matter of minutes.

 

The most important issue isn't the humidifier, in my opinion, because they are all basically the same - they put unregulated moisture into the air. The accuracy of the hygrometer in the dehumidifier is what matters most, from my perspective, because I want to know that 45% in the dehumidifier's opinion is actually 45% in the real world.

[brians356]

Yes. it is possible for a consumer-grade hygrometer to be "off". I mentioned a simple way to calibrate one by taking it outside and comparing its reading to your local weather station's reported relative humidity. Any weather station in your general area will be sampling the same air mass. If you make this check on a few different days and it is always within a percent or two, that clinches it.

 

My main point was that an unheated room or closet in a wintertime house will probably not need any artificial devices at all, it will probably be close enough to the ideal 47% by itself. I'm petty sure a lot of people are buying humidifiers when they really don't need one.

[drathbun]

I keep all my guitars out on wall hangers or stands in my studio/office all year. This is the humidifier I use now:

 

 

I've gone through a couple of them over the years. This one seems to have the best design so far. I've found the warm mist type to be superior as there are no filters. If you use tap water and have hard water, there is quite a bit of maintenance to keep the mineral deposits down. However, I have a water distiller and use distilled water only and I don't have to maintain it more than once every couple of weeks.

 

Previous models that have the hygrometer built-in suffer from having the humidity of the unit affect the reading. This model keeps all the electronics and the heating element in a separate unit from the steam channel and the water reservoir. I have two other hygrometers in the room and they all read within 2% RH of each other.

 

I like being able to set it to 45% and leave it. I check the water level every day and check the element once a week. The best part is I have my guitar out where I can play them any time.

 

BTW... it is currently -20C here and my guitars are enjoying 44% RH at 21C.