Humidity and Temperature - leaving my guitars out

[chris1474]

So, I just recently started looking into the care and feeding of an acoustic guitar and I learned that one must be concerned with the humidity in the guitar's environment. Now, I am wondering if I am damaging my guitars.

I have two beautiful Taylors that I want everyone who comes in my house to see, not to mention that having them out on a stand or on the wall makes me ten times as likely to play them. I have a K24e and a PS14ce. I just acquired the PS14ce but my K24ce has been hanging on the wall of my new apartment since I moved in back at the beginning of November. I keep my thermostat set to heat to 66 in the winter and cool to 74 during the summer. The guitar hangs on an outside wall with the ACCURITE weather station I recently bought pretty close to it. The device measures the indoor humidity at about 35% but I've only had it for a few days so I'm not sure about fluctuation. I boiled a big pot of water on the stove yesterday at about 4pm which raised the humidity to 51% only to have it fall back to 35% by the time I awoke this morning.

So, my question is, if I insist on leaving my guitars out should I get a humidifier? If so, could you recommend one to me? My apartment is about 900 sqft, shotgun style (big open room for living/dining/cooking with a separated bedroom/bathroom). I keep my guitars in the living space of the large room (16x30). I live in Augusta, GA where it is frequently more humid than is humane but I do not want to take any chances with such quality instruments.

Thanks for your responses!

[SugarmillMan]

Originally Posted by chris1474

So, I just recently started looking into the care and feeding of an acoustic guitar and I learned that one must be concerned with the humidity in the guitar's environment. Now, I am wondering if I am damaging my guitars.
I keep my guitars in the living space of the large room (16x30). I live in Augusta, GA where it is frequently more humid than is humane but I do not want to take any chances with such quality instruments.

Thanks for your responses!

Minor fluctuations in home humidity are to be expected. However, I think that most here would say that a continual humidity reading of 35 percent to be a bit too low, and possibly risky. For a large great room, you can shop around and find a variety of larger humidifiers to do the job for your cooler days. Your plants and guests will also like it.
I live in Florida so we face the same higher humidity issues that you might have during the summer but probably to a larger scale. However, when the temperatures do drop during the winter months, and the humidity plummets, I use a room humidifier for my small guitar room. No issues after ten years here but i do keep a close eye on the readings. YMMV.

[fazool]

This might help

[Von Beerhofen]

Indoor Rh relates to indoor temperature and outdoor Rh. Indoors it's usually lower then outside because it's warmer indoors. If you lower room temperature your indoor Rh will rise. Opening a window will allow more outside air to come into your room and raise indoor Rh, provided the temperature outside isn't higher then indoors. If indoor temperature is lower outside your indoor temperature will drop and more of outside Rh will enter your house, usually increasing indoor Rh.

I usually keep an eye on my weather channel to see what outdoor temperature and Rh is and based on that information and my indoor Rh reading I determine what action to take, i.e. heat up my room or lower temperature, open a window or humidify actively.

There can be situations where indoor Rh is at higher levels then outdoors but this is usually a short term effect due to cooking, showers watering the plants, etc. As you've noticed this doesn't have any long term effect but may influence your reading as well as your actions.

Ludwig

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by chris1474

So, I just recently started looking into the care and feeding of an acoustic guitar ...

Get yer swimmies ready, it's going to be a deep dive into a topic with as many opinions as seeds in a raspberry.

[Dwight]

I wouldn't let it get below 35%. I use an ultrasonic humidifier and leave my guitar in its case.

You'll get much useful advice here, including not to worry about it and what to do when your guitar cracks or becomes deformed from lack of humidity.

[martingitdave]

Ideally, storage for a guitar would be maintained at 45-50% RH. Practically, I've had little issues with relative humidity as low as 30%. Some might disagree. To be safe, purchase a medium sized (refillable) room humidifier. One should be sufficient in a 900 sf open plan apartment. Put it in the general vicinity of the guitar. Don't get the guitar wet with the vapor discharge. You'll be fine if you can maintain your space at 40% RH range. Most guitars are fairly robust. You don't need to overdo it, or make a science project of it. I'm also an engineer, but I think some of my engineering colleagues on the forum tend to over think this a bit. In some climates indoor humidity is regularly well below 20% without use of a humidifier. That can be a problem. In those instances, buy a case humidifier and leave it in the case when not being played.


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[i-doc]

personally I think people worry too much about this. My humidity goes from low 30 to mid 40s. I have left all my guitars out of case for 20 years without incident.

[chris1474]

Thanks for all the replies, lots of good information here!

Originally Posted by SugarmillMan

Minor fluctuations in home humidity are to be expected. However, I think that most here would say that a continual humidity reading of 35 percent to be a bit too low, and possibly risky.

I appreciate the response, I have noticed minor fluctuations in humidity (such as when I boiled the water) but it always seems to be fairly short lived. It seems that my humidity is fairly stable between 35-40% under normal circumstances.

Originally Posted by Von Beerhofen

Indoor Rh relates to indoor temperature and outdoor Rh. Indoors it's usually lower then outside because it's warmer indoors. If you lower room temperature your indoor Rh will rise. Opening a window will allow more outside air to come into your room and raise indoor Rh, provided the temperature outside isn't higher then indoors. If indoor temperature is lower outside your indoor temperature will drop and more of outside Rh will enter your house, usually increasing indoor Rh.

Ludwig

So, all day yesterday it was less than 45 degrees outside (66 inside) with the weather channel (and my weather station with outdoor sensor) reading around 27% humidity. Indoors the humidity was about 37%. If it is colder AND the humidity is lower outside, wouldn't opening a window cause the humidity indoors to drop? Just trying to understand haha!

Originally Posted by Dwight

I wouldn't let it get below 35%. I use an ultrasonic humidifier and leave my guitar in its case.

You'll get much useful advice here, including not to worry about it and what to do when your guitar cracks or becomes deformed from lack of humidity.

Yeah, I was in the "don't worry about it" category for a long time but having the good fortune to own such nice instruments is not something that everyone enjoys. I would hate to neglect them and have to learn the hard way.

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Ideally, storage for a guitar would be maintained at 45-50% RH. Practically, I've had little issues with relative humidity as low as 30%. Some might disagree. To be safe, purchase a medium sized (refillable) room humidifier. One should be sufficient in a 900 sf open plan apartment. Put it in the general vicinity of the guitar. Don't get the guitar wet with the vapor discharge. You'll be fine if you can maintain your space at 40% RH range. Most guitars are fairly robust. You don't need to overdo it, or make a science project of it. I'm also an engineer, but I think some of my engineering colleagues on the forum tend to over think this a bit. In some climates indoor humidity is regularly well below 20% without use of a humidifier. That can be a problem. In those instances, buy a case humidifier and leave it in the case when not being played.

This was exactly what I had planned to do. I began looking into humidifiers last night and thought I might post here in case anyone had some recommendations. It's good to know though that a night or two at 30% isn't going to result in a cracked top.

Originally Posted by i-doc

personally I think people worry too much about this. My humidity goes from low 30 to mid 40s. I have left all my guitars out of case for 20 years without incident.

I know this is a much debated topic and I don't want to fret () over nothing but I do want to make sure I'm not going to wake up one day to find one of my guitars damaged due to my neglect.

[superfluidity]

I have experienced everything Temp/RH related. I have seen the bulge at the bridge from the high humidity down south, and experienced a guitar sounding like it is being played under the water. I have seen two guitars where the bridge has lifted from the top, one was an Ovation where the strings pulled the bridge almost off. I have seen my friends expensive guitar top fracture like a spider web finish. So, where I live, it can be 100% RH for most of the year and then when the forced dry air is on in the winter go to 25% for those months. My collection and studio is worth as much (if not more) than my Corvette (and it stays in the garage), and I like to have all of my instruments sitting on stands in the open music room, so I have it climate controlled with de-humidifier and a min/max temp/RH monitor. Not that much money to protect my fortress. Just my thoughts. FWIW.

[rokdog49]

My feelings about this are that at 35% you are at the bottom of the spectrum and at 55% you are at the top. That's a pretty broad spectrum. Plus or minus a couple of points in the short term really shouldn't be an issue in terms of damage. I'm very happy at around 50% and I try to keep it there or a little lower. I had a couple of my guitars in a back bedroom and due to extreme cold and condensation issues we had to turn down the whole house humidifier.
When the humidity dropped to around 34, I moved them downstairs where it was around 44. I've had no issues other than the usual variances one gets with the neck. I can always count on retuning when the change is + or - 10%.

[rob2966]

I have had guitars out for many years with no issues at all; however, I live in Vancouver so RH swings aren't quite as extreme. However, now that I have a bit more knowledge and nicer guitars I have begun using a humidifier in my studio, at least in the winter months.

So, still don't keep them in the cases, but I do ensure the RH doesn't get below 35.

Later
Rob

[cmd612]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

My feelings about this are that at 35% you are at the bottom of the spectrum and at 55% you are at the top. That's a pretty broad spectrum. Plus or minus a couple of points in the short term really shouldn't be an issue in terms of damage.

This is pretty much how I approach the issue, too. Where I live, we have to run a dehumidifier most of the year to try to get down near 50% (and would do so even if I didn't have guitars). For the few weeks of the year when humidity gets low, I have a small room humidifier. I'm not sure what kind, but it was something inexpensive with good reviews on amazon.

[JohnW63]

My humidity goes from low 30 to mid 40s. I have left all my guitars out of case for 20 years without incident.
Reply With Quote

Because that range is not that bad. My RH can go below 20%, In fact, unless a storming is going through, low 20s and below is the NORM in my house. I keep the door closed and use a Vornado humidifier and it keeps it in the 40-45% range for a few days, until I need to refill it. It's just a lot more consistant than using the in case devices, that I often forget to check, AND , I can leave a guitar or two out on stands to play at a moments notice.

[Kevin Bishop]

Thanks!!! love that!