UK climate and humidifiers.

[Tuff Gong]

Are humidifiers surplus to requirements in the average centrally heated home? My place is fairly cool and drafty but I wonder if it's too dry for my guitar which I always keep in its case.

[Sonics]

Originally Posted by Tuff Gong

Are humidifiers surplus to requirements in the average centrally heated home? My place is fairly cool and drafty but I wonder if it's too dry for my guitar which I always keep in its case.

Purchase a humidity meter with a max/min memory and keep it in your case. This will allow you to monitor and establish a history of what's happening inside your guitar case once the lid is closed.

Anything readings below 45% RH and you probably do need a 'humidity' device.

This will do the job:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-LC...cAAOSwEK9TxoUn

[Long Jon]

Short answer: NO, I don't think you need a whole-house, or even a room humidifier here in the UK.

Long-winded answer:
I have central heating and happily leave my Martins out on floor-stands all year round.
I have a couple of hygrometers, which I keep an eye on, most of the time it's just a little over the ideal (45%) humidity, up around 51%. Sometimes it dips down to around 38%.

I did once over-dry a D28 which was on a wall hanger at my previous place. (Same area, also centrally heated).
I only noticed when the fret ends started "sprouting" slightly, over the edge of the fretboard.
I put it in the case with some damp sponges in pierced ziplock bags for a few days and it returned to normal with no apparent ill effects.

EDIT: I do own several of these radiator-hung passive humidifiers, but have never felt the need to use them again since moving to my present address.
Bit of a pain in the arizona to keep filling them up, but they are totally silent and free to run !

[Tuff Gong]

I was talking about a case humidifier but didn't make it clear in the original post-I've never heard "pain in the Arizona" before: )

[mickthemiller]

I don't think there would ever be a need to humidify a guitar in the UK. I keep a small weather monitor in my kitchen and humidity inside and outside never falls far below 50. When it's cold here, it's damp, and when it's hot, it's humid.

[Mick Peel]

You're more likely to need a DE-HUMIDIFIER living in the UK. I certainly do living in Cornwall which is always wet and damp. You would only need a humidifier if you lived in a flat or apartment and kept the windows shut and the heating on high all winter and drying the place out.

[Prizen]

Its also been my experience that de-humidification is more often required rather than humidification.

[Silly Moustache]

Many variables depending on the location, as stated, and the degree of insulation of your house. Mine is a new house (1980) with cavity wall insulation, and fully double glazed. As we are old I do not economise on central heating.

This winter (a mild one where we are on the south coast) my hygrometers indicated low humidity - maybe down to 20%. (where my hygromters switch off!)

I have invented my own humidifiers for my cases - which is simply a perforated plastic tube with high density foam inside into which I put a small amount of water.

Only one guitar has a tendency to get the sticky out frets, but I exercise care, and keep guitars mostly in cases.

I can remember preparing for a gig, in a "green room" next to a kitchen with an opened adjoining door. Inside the cook was preparing a large vat of boiled rice (for a mass chili meal) producing large quantities of steam. I noted that droplets of condensed water were dripping off my guitars onto my trousers!

We did the gig, but my strings were dead after, but my guitars suffered no ill effects.

I also did a summer gig on a stage with no cover, and was concerned to see that the hygrometer in my cases indicated 100F! Again, tuning was a challenge and new strings were dead after a 60 minute set. Again, guitars (one Collings one Martin 12 suffered nothing adverse.

[kswilson89]

No, you dont need anything. Changes in humidity aren't extreme enough in the UK to have any detrimental effect on your guitar.

[boombox]

Originally Posted by kswilson89

No, you dont need anything. Changes in humidity aren't extreme enough in the UK to have any detrimental effect on your guitar.

I beg to differ! The last couple of years in particular have seen increased humidity, especially in summer. I've used the humidipaks for some time and have been concerned that they might leak, the humidity is that high. And yes, it does have an effect on tone - 'tubby' is definitely the right adjective.

[Sonics]

I understand what people are saying, however in this instance it's not about guesswork, opinions or consensus , it's about SCIENCE.

If you go to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain they are not going to open you up and poke around, they are going to take an X-Ray to see what's going on. In a similar manner keep your humidity meter inside your case, and note and interpret the readings every time you open the case to remove the guitar. This data will tell you a story.

If the lower and upper RH limits consistently falls within 45 - 55% RH range, then you're good to go without a humidity/dehumidify device.

[MikeL]

Where I am it never seems to drop below 55 %Rh and can peak around 70 or more several times throughout the year.

If any folk from Arizona can catch some nice dry air in a few cardboard boxes and send them over I'd be grateful

I bought a big dehumidifier a couple of years ago. Did nothing except make so much noise I couldn't hear the guitar.

[Yrksman]

51 years owning guitars, all but 4 in the UK. Owned in excess of 100 guitars. Out of cases most of the time. Never had a problem

[angel13]

I'm certainly no expert on this but I like to err on the side of caution. I have a room and case hygrometer which I keep an eye on and as others have said between 45-50 is fine. Or a bit on either side.

This winter has been really mild and the central heating hardly on much and for the most part the room in which my guitars are stayed within this range and the ambient temperature of the house is coolish/warm. However, last winter was cold, the heating was up, my house is insulated really well and I was getting humidity readings going as low as 25/30. So I used a humidifier as much for my own health as well my guitars. Low humidity=dry air=wrinkles!!!

[Yrksman]

It was a very cold winter up here in the south Pennines too, last year. I did nothing different with my guitars. All survived intact.