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Humidity in your house?

D

DavidEdenAria

Dec 13, 2013
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On a Hill
#1
Are you folks as particular as me when it comes to humidity in your home?

I keep mine around 45-55%....this seems the most comfortable to me.

I have a basement where there are 3, yes 3 dehumidifiers....one is always on for the most part and the other 2 are backups.......my basement would be 70% or above humidity if not for the dehumidifiers.

Is 45 to 55% humidity a good range overall for music gear?
 
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#3
Pastor at my church has a high quality Martin acoustic. The other week he pulled a long rubber tube out of the body. When I asked him what it was he said a home made HUMIDIFIER!!! I thought I misunderstood him and asked again.... Seems he fills the tube with water and it slowly leeches out as moisture thru slits in the tube.... I was like you in my thinking that moisture was bad for my instrument.
 
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#4
Music is an expensive and very serious hobby for me, but in the daytime, I'm an archivist, and I used to work in museums as well. We keep everything within the 40-55% humidity range (OK, there's some exceptions, etc.) to keep stuff from cracking, breaking or getting too much moisture, which causes degradations of all sorts.

I do the same thing home, and try not to get over 60% in the very hot summer time. It serves me well for all my instruments, including my acoustic upright.
 
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#9
I live in Southeast Asia where it is always humid. Heaters and humidifiers do not exist in most homes in this part of the world. Air conditioning only. The occasional warped neck and out of tune bass is just part of the deal. No biggie.
 
#10
I don't measure humidity inside my home nor do I own and humudifiers/dehumidifiers. I own one solid top acoustic guitar and it's fine. Otherwise, I don't worry about any of my other instruments including my plywood upright.

Aberdumbie said:
Pastor at my church has a high quality Martin acoustic. The other week he pulled a long rubber tube out of the body. When I asked him what it was he said a home made HUMIDIFIER!!! I thought I misunderstood him and asked again.... Seems he fills the tube with water and it slowly leeches out as moisture thru slits in the tube.... I was like you in my thinking that moisture was bad for my instrument.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a homemade version of one of these.

Dampit - The string and wood instrument humidifier to protect against cracking
 
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#12
Inconnu said:
Music is an expensive and very serious hobby for me, but in the daytime, I'm an archivist, and I used to work in museums as well. We keep everything within the 40-55% humidity range (OK, there's some exceptions, etc.) to keep stuff from cracking, breaking or getting too much moisture, which causes degradations of all sorts.

I do the same thing home, and try not to get over 60% in the very hot summer time. It serves me well for all my instruments, including my acoustic upright.
Click to expand...
Thanks sharing the museum info.....45 to 55% is what I had gathered....I have arthritis and asthma so absolutely no mold is a must.

You WILL have mold where I live in many homes... but my house is on a hill so its not prone to mold like those in the bottoms where its very damp...otoh, it was built in 1960, hence I need dehumidifiers....WAY less musty smell at 50% humidity too.
 
#16
All instruments are on the main floor and out in the open on racks and stands. I run two large console humidifiers on the main floor all winter long. They maintain 50% humidity without fail.
Summertime humidity is around 65-70%. May invest in a dehumidifier, but really, there's been no issues after two decades in this house.
 
#18
quickfix said:
All instruments are on the main floor and out in the open on racks and stands. I run two large console humidifiers on the main floor all winter long. They maintain 50% humidity without fail.
Summertime humidity is around 65-70%. May invest in a dehumidifier, but really, there's been no issues after two decades in this house.
Click to expand...
See, 65 to 70% is too high for me in the summer even with the central air running....the basement starts to smell musty and it 'feels sticky'.

Otoh, ive been in Colorado for extended lengths and it is too dry much of the time for me at 25 to 30%....my skin dries out quickly but my arthritis feels better for sure...no musty smell in any of my Colorado relatives homes either.
 
#19
I'm from central Florida also and the humidity stays between 50-55 percent all year round in my house. I moved here from Pennsylvania where I always had problems in the winter with my necks shifting, I used to struggle to keep 30 percent humidity in the house during the winters in PA.
 

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