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Room humidifiers

wimwim ChicagoModerator Barault #503 replica
edited January 2016 in Welcome Posts: 1,511
Anyone uses one of these? How is it working for you? I was thinking about a room humidifier and if that can work in my small 1 BR apartment.

I've recently relocated to Chicago and it's currently -14C / 7F outside, which is unheard of for an Australian. In my apartment with the HVAC the air is so dry and I'm trying to find a way to stop my guitar moving like crazy. I won't do a sponge style humidifier because I absolutely won't keep my guitar shut up in the case, I don't like that.

Don't know what the humidity in here is but I've just gone on ebay to order a digital hygrometer, somehow my eyes glossed over the digital ones and I ended up ordering this gnarly looking thing instead. Well hopefully it will still be accurate to +/- 5% because Bob said as long as your between 40-60% you're golden.

But my concern is that the HVAC and the room humidifier would just fight it out all the time and the HVAC would probably win this battle.

Advice/suggestions?
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Comments

  • Al WatskyAl Watsky New JerseyVirtuoso
    Posts: 440
    I like to use room humidifiers. The best one I've used is the Vornado Evap 40. I have too many guitars to be individually humidifying .
    Its a 4 gallon thing with 2 side tanks. Very quiet and as effective as it needs to be .
    I'm heating my little studio with a small Pelonis heater which pushes air past a heated element.
    Very drying.
    So the Vornado takes care of things and because its a 4 gallon lasts for days. If thats too big go for the smaller model. The big one is quieter though.
  • bluetrainbluetrain Finland✭✭✭ Cach, Epiphone Triumph, Gibson ES-300
    Posts: 156
    I've been using these for many years for the same reason as you. It's also good for breathing and your skin doesn't dry as much. I use a heating humidifier (not ultrasound etc):
    http://www.ufox.fi/ilmankostuttimet

    With one of these I can keep the humidity around 50%.

    One thing you need to know about digital hygrometers is that they can show a reading that can be much lower than the actual humidity is. I have a calibrated analog hygrometer and I've compared my digital hygrometer to it and it can show for example 25% even though then analog shows 40%.
  • StevearenoSteveareno ✭✭✭
    Posts: 349
    Recently got an Essick tabletop E35000 ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond (about $50 with the discount coupon. It seems to be working okay. My perception is that it's an old school American brand. It has a built in hygrometer, but I also use a digital one from Walmart which works better than the Planet Waves one designed for guitarists. The Essick, is fairly low maintenance and just requires refilling the water every couple of days and replacing the filter every "season". They advise cleaning the container with with white vinegar if it gets dirty. It does have a fan inside, but it's not too noisy. I had an AeroSwiss that worked pretty good, but gave it to my daughter. It was a little more fancy and needed more frequent cleaning. The Essick is cheaper and simpler. It says "no white dust". Apparently the really cheap ones cause some kind of white dust mineral deposits to form in the room, so, I would avoid them. Warming mist ones are more expensive and I don't see the need. The regular mist is not too cold. You can spend a lot on these things. They also may need more frequent cleaning, etc. I use the Oasis guitar humidifiers that hang in the soundhole of the guitar. They seem to work pretty good. Elderly Instruments have them. I would NOT like to have my guitars crack up on me, or see big changes in the action through the seasons. In SoCal I didn't worry about this stuff, but relocated to Central Oregon and it's a different ball game.
    Swang on,
  • wimwim ChicagoModerator Barault #503 replica
    Posts: 1,511
    Does anyone use one in a room with HVAC, and how did those two machines duke it out? My concern is that any humidity put into the air would just be whisked away immediately by the hvac system
  • Al WatskyAl Watsky New JerseyVirtuoso
    Posts: 440
    In any situation where you have heat your going to have evaporation so you need to keep on putting the moisture back in. HVAC is a generic term for a heating system . Do you refer to a forced air system or radiant heat ? Forced air makes things more difficult but you just keep humidifying to compensate. I've been running a humidifier a 9 gallon bionair , now out of production for about 25 years. In the winter, you have to do that. In the house its that Evap 40.
  • wimwim ChicagoModerator Barault #503 replica
    Posts: 1,511
    forced air system
  • Al WatskyAl Watsky New JerseyVirtuoso
    Posts: 440
    The delivery method on the Evap 40 will cope with the forced air. Its a wick type system. Constant operation fan blowing through a saturated wick on 2 sides of the unit. The wicks need changing periodically , in my case every 3 months or so. These evaporation units are used in wood shops as well as by collectors and others. My shop has forced air , the wick system works very well , no problem with the instruments .
  • AndrewUlleAndrewUlle Cleveland, OH✭✭✭ Cigano GJ-15
    Posts: 542
    This is what I use - it keeps the level at at least 30% in the driest winter months:
    http://www.kenmore.com/kenmore-humidifier-with-14-gallon-daily-output/p-03215420000P
    Al Watsky
  • Charlie AyersCharlie Ayers Salt Lake CityProdigy
    Posts: 287
    I've been using one of these for several years, and have been happy with it:
    http://www.essickair.com/humidifier-831000.html
  • Posts: 5,086
    I know I was fighting hard to keep it above 30% the last few days employing Venta washer and wet towels over radiators.
    You better do something Wim or else your guitar will start to sound like a cigar box pretty soon.
    Every note wants to go somewhere-Kurt Rosenwinkel
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