Room Temp and Humidity

[HeavyHand]

Hello People,

I have a spare bedroom in the basement (bassment?)of my house which I am now using as my practice room. And I was wondering what would be the best temperature would be to keep the room at and what to do about the dampness as the room is in the basement to keep my basses in the best shape for as long as possible. The basement is kind of cold and the room has heat which I usually have set at 70 (fahrenheit), but it's still usually colder in that room so I'm guessing the room is probably somewhere between 60-70 degrees. I also have a dehumidifier in the basement to help with any moisture down there, I was just wondering what I should do to in terms of how long or often I should run it I suppose.

Thanks!

 

[Turnaround]

60 to 70 degrees is just fine. Get a hygrometer so you can measure the humidity. Try to keep it at around 40%. Too much humidity is just as bad as too little.

 

[HeavyHand]

Thanks, heading to Home Depot tonight to pick up a hygrometer!

 

[Arie X]

40-45% RH and 68-72F are the ideals. as far as how long? that really depends upon what it takes to keep that room where you need it.

You'll need to calibrate your hygrometer as virtually all of them aside from a sling psychrometer are not the most accurate of instruments with some of them being out by as much as 10 RH. It can be done every 3 or 4 months with a cheap kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Boveda-Low-R...ocphy=9031040&hvtargid=pla-350782328623&psc=1

 

[HeavyHand]

Thanks for the tip about the hygrometer calibration!

As an update. I got a hygrometer, let it sit out for a bit, came back and it read 56% in the room, I tossed my dehumidifier in there and within about an hour or so it was down to 40%. Turned off the dehumidifier over night and checked it in the morning to see how much the humidity had gone up, and it was at 49%. So, generally speaking I feel pretty good about it.

 

[Robert Darby]

I don't worry about it with my solid bodies. Now my acoustic guitars its another story.