Re: [ARSCLIST] ?Humidifiers for small institution holdings.

["prabhupada.com" <pr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tony
Without knowing the actual humidity and your area I will give you general
stuff.

If you are able to limit or control the amount of outside air coming into
your area (e.g.: patrons opening and closing the door ever 10 seconds of
door left open, etc) then I would say use a dehumidifier in summer and maybe
a humidifier in winter even a domestic one may do, depending on the area to
cover and load.

The biggest concern after not wanting high or very low humidity is humidity
that goes up and down a lot. So, I would invest in a Hygrometer of some sort
and keep a daily record (maybe every hour to start with). This will tell you
what is really going on and will help you in setting up your
humidifier/dehumidifier controls (setting) if you really need them.

I would think too high humidity would be your biggest problem...remember
even in winter when the humidity is low outside...people coming into you
area will give off heat and moisture just from breathing. Once again I don't
know your circumstances, so....

To start with... if you haven't measured the humidity in your area I would
do that first to see how bad it really is.

Regards
Paul Tombleson
Director of Preservation
Bhaktivedanta Archives


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Greiner/Mary Grant" <greints@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 1:55 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] ?Humidifiers for small institution holdings.


> Hello folks.  I am a librarian at a public library, with
> responsibility for our local history collection, which includes
> magnetic tapes, standard cassettes and VHS. (Mostly video and oral
> histories of local residents.)
>
> I have been studying on what should be done to preserve these
> materials, and the question of humidity comes up. I am in Western
> Oregon, which is humid but cool from roughly October to May, and arid
> from June to September.  We cannot afford a high-quality humidity
> control system- but the questions come up.
>
> Is it better to have a household room dehumidifier running in
> climates with high humidity than to do nothing, and
>
> In arid climates, is running a room humidifier better than doing nothing?
>
> Thanks for any help you are willing to provide.  This is a great list to
lurk!
>
> Tony Greiner
>
> --
> Tony Greiner/Mary Grant  greints@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>