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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:22 am 
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Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:55 am
Posts: 68
Location: United States

My wife and I bought a humidifier a couple weeks ago. It's doing a good job humidifying, but I'm having a hard time keeping the RH at a constant (or nearly constant level). On average there's a 15 - 20% swing in any 12 hour period (I'm measuring with a psychometer). The only problem I can think of is the fact that this unit is designed for one room but there is a hallway that connects to other rooms etc., so it may be trying to do too much. Any thoughts now that I probably answered my own question?


Thanks much and happy new year,


J.R.



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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:25 am 
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Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:55 am
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Location: United States
Whoops!   psychrometer not psychometer! Boy if I had one of those it would be beeping all day long! 


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:34 am 
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Contributing Member
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Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:05 am
Posts: 680
Location: Saint Petersburg, Florida
First name: Glenn
Last Name: LaSalle
City: Saint Petersburg
State: Florida
Status: Amateur

J.R.,


I use a number of humidifiers in my house, and one dedicated to my shop area.  So far here in the north east (South NJ/Philadelphia area), i have been keeping Rh between 40-46% during the late fall/Winter (summer was between 45-50 with central air).


Make sure the one you bought can handle the area you want to humidify.   I bought Holmes humidifiers this year, which displays the RH.  I find the humifiers display is way off, but consistently so.  So I set the humidifier for the setting that yields the proper RH.  I like humidifiers that can be set to go on at certain points - i think it controls the RH swing better.  Of course, we are going thru our first cold snap now (17 degrees at night), and I find the humidifiers are definately working overtime


Glenn



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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:52 am 
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Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:55 am
Posts: 68
Location: United States

Thanks Glenn,


Ours is a Holmes. It has a humidistat, but no digital display. The info that came with it says it's designed for one room up to 1000 sq. ft. I fiddled w/ it til it was giving me 45-50% daytime but then drops to about 30% at night. I tried turning it up a hair at night, checked it in the am and it was near 70%. I've been trying but just can't seem to get it to stay at a consistent level. 


Maybe it's all that hot, moist air drifting in from Iowa. Maybe this will all correct itself after the caucuses are over! 


J.R.



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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:50 am 
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Contributing Member
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Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:05 am
Posts: 680
Location: Saint Petersburg, Florida
First name: Glenn
Last Name: LaSalle
City: Saint Petersburg
State: Florida
Status: Amateur
[QUOTE=glasalle]

I bought Holmes humidifiers this year, which displays the RH.  [/QUOTE]


Sorry, I bought Hunter Humidifiers - supposedly the wick filters dont need changing ... we'll see


Glenn



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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:14 am 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:39 am
Posts: 1016
Location: United States
  I  bought room humidifiers  long ago, what a hassle, then with the possibility of mold growing on the wicks and being spread throguh the air, the only  solution was a chemical additive , added to the water , which I could actualy taste in the air. I thinkthe only way you will get an automatic system that works well is to spend a huge amount of money on equiptment and duct work.! I simply use   a vaporizer , which requires a casual monitoring, I have a hygrometer on the shelf , and a ceiling fan .if I need a quick boost of water vapor( like when I am using the wood stove), I add a little salt to the water . it seems to be working for me . Jody


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:49 pm 
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Koa
Koa
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Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:47 am
Posts: 781
Location: Wauwatosa, WI, USA
I have two 4 gallon Holmes humidifiers. One in the shop and one in the
guitar room. I end up filling the guitar room one every other day and the
shop one twice a day in this cold cold drrrryyyy air. Thats 8 gallons a day in
the shop! I even tried sealing the shop with thick plastic sheet the best I
could. It helped, but I'm still filling twice a day. In my rush this morning I
forgot to put the refilled container back and left it in the sink all day. The
RH went from 42% down to 22% while I was at work. I had four practice tops
that curled up pretty good. Its a real pain in the dry Wisconsin winters. I
think I need to get one of those cheep vaporizers to supplement the cold
vapor one, or one of those ultrasonic ones. The hot wet summers are so
much easier.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:11 pm 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:36 am
Posts: 114
Location: United States
First name: kurt
Last Name: thomas
City: colden
State: ny
Zip/Postal Code: 14033
Status: Amateur

Trying to maintain consistant humidity does depend on the area you are trying to humidify and on the type and quality of the humidifier. I have a Honeywell that I bought about 2 years ago at Home Depot, it is one of the few Warm Mist humidifiers I have seen. It's like a vaporizer, but it has a fan as well so it really puts out a good amount of moisture. It hold about 1.5 gallons, so I end up filling it at least once a day. It humidifys my guitar room which is a 20x15 room and it keeps a pretty good level between 40 and 45% here in Buffalo. This one has the digital control where you can set the RH and it is not an accurate read out but is relative. I have it set at 55 and it goes on and off with the room staying around the 40-45% level.


The problem with the warm mist unit is it uses a heating element, that I have to acid clean about once a month with a mild muriatic solution, and this is even with having a softener system on the house. I have a cool mist Holmes, with a bigger tank, but it has all the associated problems with the filter getting "skanky" and fouled. I really like the warm mist unit but I just do not see them anywhere anymore. I think possibly due to the safety potential, where if the unit runs out of water, and the automatic shut off does not work, you wind up with a red-hot coil in a plastic housing, not good.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:12 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:37 am
Posts: 590
Location: United States
First name: Michael
Last Name: Shaw
City: Phila
State: PA
Zip/Postal Code: 19125
Country: United States
[QUOTE=Jody]   I  bought room humidifiers  long ago, what a hassle, then with the possibility of mold growing on the wicks and being spread throguh the air, the only  solution was a chemical additive , added to the water , which I could actualy taste in the air. I thinkthe only way you will get an automatic system that works well is to spend a huge amount of money on equiptment and duct work.! I simply use   a vaporizer , which requires a casual monitoring, I have a hygrometer on the shelf , and a ceiling fan .if I need a quick boost of water vapor( like when I am using the wood stove), I add a little salt to the water . it seems to be working for me . Jody[/QUOTE]
Jody i use a vaporizer too because of the mold issue with the humidifiers. Like you said you just need to keep an eye on you humidity gauge and it will work fine.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:21 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:39 am
Posts: 1016
Location: United States
 I like to store my guitars at about 55% ... now my Zoot is stored much lower... my build room about  45% .... I did need to chip a bunch of build up off my vaporizer  coil this year ....   but at  less than $20 , I think I will go out and buy a new one ... less chance of failure that way ... Jody


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:22 pm 
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Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:55 am
Posts: 68
Location: United States

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm thinking I need a couple more to spread the workload.


 



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