[CAUT] Ideal humidity levels

Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu
Wed May 13 18:31:21 MDT 2009


On May 13, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Don Mannino wrote:

> I would suggest that your 25% low number could be the result of a  
> not so accurate humidity gauge.  This is a common low limit for many  
> electronic gauges, so if that is what you are using, try a better  
> one, or a sling psychrometer.

	I have found that a sling psychrometer has practical lower limits. I  
think the water evaporates too fast to get the temperature of the wet  
bulb down as low as it would go theoretically. In any case, I could  
never get mine to read much below 20%, and the figures on the charts  
(wet bulb/dry bulb) rarely go that low. The CMM880 from Pianotek seems  
to be pretty good at low ranges. Seems to do consistently well even in  
the 1-10% range (5% is about the lowest I have had in a building, but  
in the car on a hot, dry summer day I have read between 1 and 2).
	In Tennessee, it should be possible to maintain a fairly high lower  
limit without too much trouble (35 - 45%). That is, it doesn't get  
cold enough to create the condensation problems Don described (partly  
this depends on the building's design and construction). The more  
expensive side is in reducing humidity in the summer, which is usually  
done by supercooling air.
	If you can actually get to talk to the engineers and designers, I  
would ask questions about what is feasible and practical. I would  
definitely not be demanding a window of 4% (the 48 - 52% you  
mentioned). From the point of view of asking for more than you expect,  
I would make my ideal 45 - 55%, and settle for 35 - 65% as a marked  
and livable improvement.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


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