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I'm settting up my shop in the garage but plan to do some assembly inside the house. I also have guitars, mandolins, and dulcimers scattered around in different rooms (usually in cases).

The climate here in North Texas varys widely wth temperature and humidity able to change within a few hours or to stay at extremes for days at a time (3 day ice storms and 13 month doughts)

The central heat and A/C unit is located in the garage attic. Adding two interior walls would enclose the garage space and adding ductwork could be simple, but I don't want to add shop dust to the inside air.

I've been checking specs on Aprilaire and Honeywell humidifiers and de-humidifeirs. I would be interested in any recommendations for these or other systems.

Thanks,

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GregH
Fot Wuth

I have an Aprilaire 550 system in my house (built in 2004) which has gas hot air heat. It seems to do a very good job keeping the humidity at the specified level in the winter (I'm in upstate NY). Last year I left a new Martin (00-18V) out on a stand in the bedroom and checked it often for sinking, excess neck relief, flat back, fretboard extension drop etc. etc. I saw no evidence at all of dryness problems. 

I have hot air oil heat. I added a whole house humidifier a few years back. Be sure to add a water filtering system that is if the unit doesn't have some type of water. The reason why is you'll start to notice a light white dust on furnuture and stuff that comes from the waters mineral content. Are water here in philly is very hard in mineral content.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

I feel your pain, Greg. Here in Wise County I show 39 degrees and 94% humidity outside.

Nasty...

Just wait a couple of days, though, it could be shorts and T-shirt weather again!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

[QUOTE=westex93] I feel your pain, Greg. Here in Wise County I show 39 degrees and 94% humidity outside.

Nasty...
[/QUOTE]

Interesting topic, relative humidity....

If it's 94% RH and 39 ?F or 4?C, then the dew point is about 3?C. Take that same air into your shop and heat it up to 20?C (68?F) and the RH will be 32%.

Humidity Calculator

Up where Mario Proulx hangs out, it's -8?C (warm) and 86% RH today. Take that air into the shop and the RH will be about 12%...so I'm sure Mario has the humidifiers going full-blast.

Cheers
John

We had a Honeywell humidifier installed in our central heat/AC unit about five years ago. It has served us very well. It's the type that evaporates the water, so there's no discernible mineral stuff floating around. But that means the high amount of minerals in our water collects in the water tray and foam drum that rotates in the tray. I guess the minerals have to go somewhere.

It works by diverting a portion of the heater air into the open side of a foam drum. The drum rotates in a tray of water. The diverted air blows into the open side of the drum and out the water-soaked perimeter of the drum.

I replace the foam every year, along with soaking the tray and inlet valve in vinegar. I'm thinking it not only dissolves the deposits, but may also help with keeping mold and bacteria growth in check.

It's pretty dry here, so I don't have any dehumidification advice to offer. I like our system a lot. It's effective and pretty trouble-free. It's only downside is a rather "dumb" humidity control. It's open-ended, no feedback, so you just pick a setting off a chart based on temperature. If the temp changes, the setting needs to be changed. Sort of like setting a heater control with no thermostat, can't really dial in the level you want.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Mine is in my crawl space.  I have not experienced any problems with it in the 8 or 9 years it has been there. Hot water pipes and ducts are pretty heavily insulated, so not much control under there.  I'm guessing that it keeps enough water moving all the time to keep it from freezing during the very cold times.  That is when the humidifier is working the hardest. I keep my house at 45% rh.  You may be a step cooler than we are in Charlotte, but I'd guess not much difference.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Zootman should be able to help here. When he put the new HVAC system in his shop he also had incluced an in- line central humidification system. It was maintaining a constant 45% for several days while I was there. It wasn't cheap but it beats filling containers all winter.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com