Humidity

[hdrider57]

Hi, I set up a dehumidifier and set it 45% in my practice room and have two ipower hygrometers . When the dehumidifier shuts off at 45% , both hygrometers
are saying 58% . Which to believe?

[Scotso]

if me...prob hygrometers

[Bridgepin]

My vote is with the two hydrometers.

[lar]

What brand/model dehumidifier did you get?

I've calibrated 4-5 hygrometers (using salt, which you can do also) and I've never had one more than 4% in error, which I consider very good. 13% is a large error.

IPower claims an accuracy of +/-5%, which is meaningless. Best to calibrate it. Try to get a 50% humidity calibration salt kit since that is near where you want the humidity to be. You wont get a calibration curve (over the entire scale/range), just one data point, which is better than nothing.

[Earl49]

A man with two watches never knows exactly what time it is.

You have three hygrometers - two outboard and a third in the dehumidifier that turns it off. You need to find some way to check the accuracy of the outboard units, then figure out the error inherent in the onboard sensor - presuming that it is the inaccurate one - then set it accordingly. Sounds like you will have to set the dehumidifier way lower than its 45% RH setting to hit your room target. I'm a bit surprised that you need to de-humidify in Mendocino County, even near the coast. When I lived in Sonoma County (Petaluma) many years ago, I was not even aware of humidity care for guitars.

I'm reminded of the time that my wife bought a light sensing device to turn on a lamp when it was dark. It conveniently screwed in between the bulb and the lamp's socket. Every time it got dark the lamp turned on, but then it went back off again almost immediately - because the nearby photo-sensor saw the light of the bulb. Oops.

[Dbone]

The built in hygrometers in dehumidifiers are notorious for being inaccurate.

Calibrate your 2 hygrometers with potassium carbonate and then adjust the dehumidifier to whatever it takes to see what you want to see on the hygrometers you calibrated.

Cheers

[hdrider57]

Both hygrometers are brand new, just got them last week. I had an older one also which always read high 50's or low 60's as these are.
My practice room is part of my garage/basement so it does get a little damp especially now during raining season.
Not sure how to calibrate the hygrometers but I can always check youtube. Thanks for all the responses.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by hdrider57

Hi, I set up a dehumidifier and set it 45% in my practice room and have two ipower hygrometers . When the dehumidifier shuts off at 45% , both hygrometers
are saying 58% . Which to believe?

Hi hd-r

What kind of dehumidifier? What is the capacity? Do you have to empty it?

[Bluenose]

I set the humidistat on the humidifier in my music room at 35%. At night I leave my guitar out on a stand but I cover the soundhole with a damp Kyser Lifeguard and I've been doing that for a few years now without any problems. I find my guitars sound the best when they are dry but it's a balancing act.

[menhir]

Both of my humidifiers show different readings than my stand-alone hygrometers.

I trust the stand-alone hygrometers rather than the built-in ones.

Example: One of my humidifiers, a large pedestal device, has it's sensor on the plug wire not far from the device itself. I'm sure it reads at a higher level because it's very close to the source.

I wan't to know the humidity reading where my guitars actually are.

[hairpuller]

Go with the hygrometers.
However, as was mentioned earlier , there’s really no need to both worrying about humidity levels where you are.

We’ve got enough to worry about as it is!

Scott

[kaos]

Hygrometers.

[kurth83]

Inkbird maybe?

I have never had any luck with humidifiers or dehumidifiers with build-in humidistats, I suspect they are poor quality and/or too close to where the action is to get an accurate reading.

Read up on accurate hygrometers and make sure you have one of those, I own a few and they are never more than 1% off from each other.

[hdrider57]

Ok, set the dehumidifier at it's lowest 35%, and both hygrometers are at 54%. I think I can live with that.
Just have to keep the bucket empty...
Thanks

[Markvdw]

Calibration helps. FWIW, I had some old Accurites that lacked the ability to calibrate, so I replaced them with some that did:
https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-01083.../dp/B01HDW58GS

I placed them in a large 1 gallon zip loc with a Boveda 49% humidipack for a couple of hours, to calibrate. To my surprise they both registered 49% and didn't need to be calibrated, but I'm glad I checked. Once I got them calibrated, I used them to calibrate my thermostat's hygrometers as well.

In the end don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Calibration at least ensures that your hygrometers are within a degree or two of reality. And calibration means you don't end up with widely different readings from multiple hygrometers driving you crazy.