Android local humidity levels app?

[Monk of Funk]

I was just wondering if anyone here knew of a humidity app that would notify you either whenever the humidity dropped below a given level, or maybe even at a certain time each day it would notify you if the humidity is below some level.

I know some hygrometers can be placed in your case and can send alerts to your phone, but I'm looking for something that just uses the local weather humidity level.

[tomiv9]

Local weather humidity level is pretty much useless. Unless you live with your windows open all the time, in which case you probably dont need to worry about humidity at all. If your using AC or heat, than you need to worry about humidity, and you need to monitor it with a simple hygrometer

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Monk of Funk

I was just wondering if anyone here knew of a humidity app that would notify you either whenever the humidity dropped below a given level, or maybe even at a certain time each day it would notify you if the humidity is below some level.

I know some hygrometers can be placed in your case and can send alerts to your phone, but I'm looking for something that just uses the local weather humidity level.

Hi MoF

Sudden changes in humidity inside our homes is not what damage guitars. It's neglect of the guitars over months when the humidity is low.

Your idea needs to be to signal the humidity inside one's house/apartment. What the humidity is outside does not indicate what it is inside, unless you live in tropical climate and your windows/doors are open all the time.

To be effective, one would need an indoor hygrometer which would send a reading to one's phone/computer when the humidity shifted indoors.

We own two Nest Thermostats - the top end model and a less expensive model - which control the heat in our home, and the more expensive of the two does read indoor humidity, which I can read remotely on my phone or iPad. But it does not have capability to signal me. I have to seek it out.

Again, it's not sudden shifts in humidity which damage instruments. It's forgetting to read and adapt the humidity levels of our instruments over time.

[Rockysdad]

The Ecobee thermostat shows indoor humidity and you can set notifications to be sent to your phone for whatever setting you want, low and high.

I might add, additional monitors can be added for different rooms.

[UncleJesse]

I bought Oasis Bluetooth Trackers for each of my guitars and it will notify me upon dipping above or below specified temperature and humidity. I got them for about $38 each when I asked my Sweetwater rep for a discount off the $50 list price. It has an app that works on IOS or Android I believe. I once had an issue after an iPhone update and I sent an email and was put in contact with the developer who fixed it that night.

The downside is that it is Bluetooth, so if you're away from home you won't get those notifications.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...erature-sensor

[619TF]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

I bought Oasis Bluetooth Trackers for each of my guitars and it will notify me upon dipping above or below specified temperature and humidity. I got them for about $38 each when I asked my Sweetwater rep for a discount off the $50 list price. It has an app that works on IOS or Android I believe. I once had an issue after an iPhone update and I sent an email and was put in contact with the developer who fixed it that night.

The downside is that it is Bluetooth, so if you're away from home you won't get those notifications.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...erature-sensor

The only problem with that is the OP specifically stated they weren't interested in those type of devices.

Originally Posted by Monk of Funk

I know some hygrometers can be placed in your case and can send alerts to your phone, but I'm looking for something that just uses the local weather humidity level.

But the best answer is probably this:

Originally Posted by tomiv9

Local weather humidity level is pretty much useless. Unless you live with your windows open all the time, in which case you probably dont need to worry about humidity at all. If your using AC or heat, than you need to worry about humidity, and you need to monitor it with a simple hygrometer

[Monk of Funk]

Originally Posted by tomiv9

Local weather humidity level is pretty much useless. Unless you live with your windows open all the time, in which case you probably dont need to worry about humidity at all. If your using AC or heat, than you need to worry about humidity, and you need to monitor it with a simple hygrometer

It's not useless where I am. The humidity outside definitely affects the humidity in my place in a pretty directly correlated fashion.

I don't need to be super precise with it. I just need to not have it get too humid or dry on me for a long stretch.

I have a hygrometer in the room where my guitar is. It is not electronic and doesn't send me alerts, but I can definitely notice a direct correlation with the weather outside. However, I don't always think of it, and don't always check my hygrometer, so I would like just an alert to tell me that it's dry, so that I can make sure to check my humidity levels.

[Monk of Funk]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi MoF

Sudden changes in humidity inside our homes is not what damage guitars. It's neglect of the guitars over months when the humidity is low.

Your idea needs to be to signal the humidity inside one's house/apartment. What the humidity is outside does not indicate what it is inside, unless you live in tropical climate and your windows/doors are open all the time.

To be effective, one would need an indoor hygrometer which would send a reading to one's phone/computer when the humidity shifted indoors.

We own two Nest Thermostats - the top end model and a less expensive model - which control the heat in our home, and the more expensive of the two does read indoor humidity, which I can read remotely on my phone or iPad. But it does not have capability to signal me. I have to seek it out.

Again, it's not sudden shifts in humidity which damage instruments. It's forgetting to read and adapt the humidity levels of our instruments over time.

Right, but where I live humidity outdoors can change for a week at a time, or in the long run, the winter is more dry, but to keep it on average at good humidity levels, I'd like to know what the humidity outside is, so that I can know whether it is going to be humid or not, so I can help compensate, so that in the long run, the humidity levels will be good. I don't need to be crazy precise with it, like you say, if the environment fluctuates to be too humid, and then too dry, that would even out in the instrument, so long as each fluctuation is close enough together. So if I try and get to the correct humidity, in the ball park, doing adjustments like that, it should workout quite well I think.

[RustyAxe]

I fail to see the need. A one day drop in humidity isn't going to hurt your guitars in the least. I use a room humidifier and have a humidistat on the wall opposite my guitars/cases, and check it when I enter the room. I'm showing 51% at 69'F at the moment. It'll vary between 45 and 55% during the day.

[Monk of Funk]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

I fail to see the need. A one day drop in humidity isn't going to hurt your guitars in the least. I use a room humidifier and have a humidistat on the wall opposite my guitars/cases, and check it when I enter the room. I'm showing 51% at 69'F at the moment. It'll vary between 45 and 55% during the day.

Ya, one day might not make all the difference, but I'd rather not get into the habit of forgetting. I've run into humidity issues before, and I'd rather not have to go through that again.

If I get an app notification every day where humidity is low, that will keep me in check. Maybe I'll forget one day, but the next I'll get reminded again.

[RedJoker]

I got in the habit of really checking when I first got into guitars but over time, I worry less and less about it. I keep the guitars in a cooler part of the house so the RH actually stays higher than the rest.

[joe white]

I am as careful with the RH around my guitars as I can be. As a matter of fact, I have to keep my shop for finishing guitars at a constant 45 to 50% day and night year round to ensure that clients guitars remain stable during the finishing process. All this said, I have my Dad's late 60s early 70's Gibson B25 that I grew up with. This is an all solid wood guitar with mahogany back and sides and Sitka top. My Dad would cart that guitar around in the cheap little fiber Gibson case in any weather and any temperature. I can remember my family going down south in the dead of winter for Christmas in every kind of weather condition imaginable from damp and rainy to below zero and snowy and that little Gibson rode in the trunk inside that cheap Gibson case year after year. I can remember that guitar sitting out all day at family reunions in the sun or shade. Even later in life when my Dad was alone he would keep the guitar in a front bedroom of his small mobile home and that room recieved no air conditioning and no heat year round and especially no RH control. Now that I have the guitar, I invested in a much better case for it and it stays with my other instruments in a controlled environment. I wouldn't treat any of my guitars or Dad's guitar like his was treated for all those years but I often think about how that guitar survived all those years with all those temperature swings and humidity swings without a single crack or structural damage. The finish is obviously not in the best of shape but the guitar itself is still structurally sound and plays well. Maybe this is a case of they don't make them like that anymore? LOL

[Monk of Funk]

Originally Posted by joe white

I am as careful with the RH around my guitars as I can be. As a matter of fact, I have to keep my shop for finishing guitars at a constant 45 to 50% day and night year round to ensure that clients guitars remain stable during the finishing process. All this said, I have my Dad's late 60s early 70's Gibson B25 that I grew up with. This is an all solid wood guitar with mahogany back and sides and Sitka top. My Dad would cart that guitar around in the cheap little fiber Gibson case in any weather and any temperature. I can remember my family going down south in the dead of winter for Christmas in every kind of weather condition imaginable from damp and rainy to below zero and snowy and that little Gibson rode in the trunk inside that cheap Gibson case year after year. I can remember that guitar sitting out all day at family reunions in the sun or shade. Even later in life when my Dad was alone he would keep the guitar in a front bedroom of his small mobile home and that room recieved no air conditioning and no heat year round and especially no RH control. Now that I have the guitar, I invested in a much better case for it and it stays with my other instruments in a controlled environment. I wouldn't treat any of my guitars or Dad's guitar like his was treated for all those years but I often think about how that guitar survived all those years with all those temperature swings and humidity swings without a single crack or structural damage. The finish is obviously not in the best of shape but the guitar itself is still structurally sound and plays well. Maybe this is a case of they don't make them like that anymore? LOL

It may be, I mean, the more you try to make a guitar sing, the more sort of flimsy you try to make it, so it is more fragile in a sense. Cheaper guitars do better for humidty for that reason also I think. Idk if that's the case on your particular guitar, if it was built differently or whatever though.

Also though, often times if the humidity goes out of wack things can go a little wrong with it, but nothing too drastic, and it's nothing re-humidifying and a setup can't fix. If you want to keep it in tip top shape though, you really do want to keep the humidity levels decent at the very least for good guitars. I know for my Taylor I'm a humidity Nazi. But for my other acoustics I've had, I don't really care that much. I think the fact they are laminate back and sides makes a difference, but I think the top on the taylor is more sort of fragile as well. You sound like you probably know better about this than I do, so correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what it seems like to me.