PSA - early "that time of year"

[fazool]

For the folks who ascribe to humidity control and management, this is a PSA that the "dry season" is coming early this year.


For the folks less familiar THIS might be helpful.

I saw a weather report that frosts are expected a month early (we are in the N.E. US near the Great Lakes. Sure enough, last night we had a full frost - every surface covered with frost and I had to deice my windows before driving to work.

We also had to turn the furnace on last night....and therein lies the problem.
The cold air drops moisture as dew and frost, basically taking moisture out of the air and laying it on the ground. We then heat the air back up inside our homes and that air becomes more dry. Your furnace is essentially like a gigantic hair dryer.

This was a brief dip, but it seems the dry season will be upon us early this year.

So, for those who want the insurance of a humidifier, start getting them ready!

[rmp]

I'm in the land where the people from The New England dwell.

We've not turn on the furnace yet, and enjoying a prefect 50% rh most days.

That's gonna change soon. I have my sound hole humidifiers at the ready.

Weee,, here comes winter!

[Rev Roy]

Here in Oklahoma the weather is still mild. Lows in the 50s, highs in the 80s and RH in the house +/- 45%. But winter is coming so I’ve got my humidifier and Humidipaks ready for action.

[Athens]

I’ve commented several times over the years on this subject.

If you keep your guitars out on stands or hanging on walls, you definitely need to keep a very close eye on the RH in your house. I had a whole house humidifier in Chicago and it was a great way to control the RH in the house.

If you keep your guitars in their cases, things get a bit easier.

I’ve been using wireless temp/humidity sensors in my guitar cases for years. What I’ve found is that the cases absorb and release moisture very slowly and that helps to moderate the humidity swings.

When the humidity in the cases gets low I’m a fan of the Sponge in a Soap Dish approach. I’m reluctant to put anything with moisture in the sound hole. It’s no consolation if you’re that 1 in 1000 that has it leak into your Goodall or custom 00-12.

Just my less than humble opinion on the matter.

[Bob Womack]

Thanks for the reminder. Yeah, here in the Mid-Atlantic USA we are being walked all over by tropical depression IAn, for the second time! It went north and then backtracked southeast over us. Right now it is 93%humidity outside with rain, and 56'. The house has moderated out to 56' and 60% RH without use of the heat pump. The RH will probably drop around Wednesday when this poop drops off.

At work in the studio right now it is 70' and 56% RH.

Our dry season usually kicks in right after Christmas.

Bob

[Bluenose]

Yes it's time to watch the hygrometer because we've had some chilly mornings which have caused our furnace to come on quite a bit already.

Speaking of hanging guitars on walls, I learned the hard way to not hang a guitar on an external wall during the winter months. Even in a well humidified room in a heated house, the insulated external wall will be a bit colder than the inside air and this will cause problems like tuning issues and buzzing.

Maybe if the external walls in your house are very thick and well insulated you might not have to worry but if you live in a regular frame house with 4 or 6" walls and it's real cold outside it could be a potential problem.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by fazool

For the folks who ascribe to humidity control and management, this is a PSA that the "dry season" is coming early this year.


For the folks less familiar THIS might be helpful.

I saw a weather report that frosts are expected a month early (we are in the N.E. US near the Great Lakes. Sure enough, last night we had a full frost - every surface covered with frost and I had to deice my windows before driving to work.

We also had to turn the furnace on last night....and therein lies the problem.
The cold air drops moisture as dew and frost, basically taking moisture out of the air and laying it on the ground. We then heat the air back up inside our homes and that air becomes more dry. Your furnace is essentially like a gigantic hair dryer.

This was a brief dip, but it seems the dry season will be upon us early this year.

So, for those who want the insurance of a humidifier, start getting them ready!

It hasn't been THAT cold here, but I have the big humidifier going in the big room to keep it at 50%. I'm still running 46-50% in the small room, so that one isn't going yet.

[Denny B]

Well, we haven't had to turn the furnace on yet, and we're looking at a stretch of pretty nice weather, low mid 70's for the next week or so.

But I'm certainly glad we had that whole house humidifier installed a couple of years ago...the guitars do fine out on the stands and my wife and I are much more comfortable.

[Methos1979]

Another New Englander here. The heat went on last night. Off in the morning after coffee.

We'll continue on that rotation (when needed) for as long as we can.

We've noticed everything seems to be 'coming early' this year, like 2-3 weeks earlier than usual.

Fortunately for me, no worries about humidity this season!

[TBman]

We turned the heat on last night too.

[Mycroft]

Here in the Great Pacific Northwest on what is purportedly the "wet" side of the Cascade range. It has been dry now for months (except one day of sprinkles last week). Temps have cooled; it was in the high 70s today. The problem is that the wind started coming from the east again, and we have been getting hammered with smoke again all day from the fires in the mountains.

Yet we are a bit afeared of hoping for some rain, because we might get what we ask for and then rain won't stop until next June

[jp2558]

Just today I unplugged the dehumidifier in the basement and enabled the home humidifier on the furnace...

[stokes1971]

"Sure enough, last night we had a full frost - every surface covered with frost and I had to deice my windows before driving to work".
But.... you're in Buffalo, shouldnt your first blizzard be any day now?

[ribsareyummy]

One of the guys at Tobias Music here in the Chicago suburbs once gave me a rule of thumb: If football is on TV, humidipaks should be in your case. I keep mine in year-round, though, so it was not some astounding revelation for me.

[Tycobb73]

Good. My hydrometer constantly said in the 70s and 80s this summer. That needs to get knocked down a bit. Grand Rapids Michigan.