Room humidifier recommendations

wickedwahine11

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I tried a search but mainly found info on case or in uke humidifiers, and whenever anyone mentioned they had a room one they didn't specify the brand.

Does anyone out there have a recommendation for a room humidifier?

I just noticed that my Kamoa uke has developed a crack on the top of it. So I've taken my ukes down and have them with humidifiers in their cases for now.

I probably won't bother to repair the Kamoa since it wasn't that expensive (and since the Kamaka repair wasn't a total success when it developed a seam separation).

But I know that I absolutely never play my Kamaka anymore since it lives in a case in my closet now. I would really hate to have to relegate all my ukes to cases in the closet so I'm hoping to find a good room humidifier option (not to mention I hate to waste the money I spent on carved wall hangers!).

Any recommendations for what I should be shopping for at Home Depot this weekend?
 
I'll be watching this thread too. Good question.
 
I bought this Bionaire unisonic personal humidifier for my office, although before it arrived, the building maintenance people made adjustments to the buildingwide air system to increase humidity, so I haven't had to use it. Bionaire makes larger room humidifiers as well.

For what it's worth, when I first got my Kamaka I ended up mostly playing my Kala travel tenor when I was at home because my Kamaka was sitting in its humidifed case. I've since trained myself to take the extra time to take the Kamaka out of its case to play it and put it back when I'm done. Ultimately, my Kamaka is so much more fun to play that it finally sunk in that playing it was worth the extra effort.
 
If the office is small a ultrasonic will work, but for larger rooms you need the evaporating kind.

How big is the room? Is the door kept closed? And whats the typical low humidity in winter?
 
If the office is small a ultrasonic will work, but for larger rooms you need the evaporating kind.

How big is the room? Is the door kept closed? And whats the typical low humidity in winter?

I'd say it is probably about 15x10 or 15x15. I don't keep the door closed now, but will if I get a humidifier. I'm not sure about the readings, all I have right now for hygrometers is the ones that came in my cases and I don't think those are very reliable. But I'd say it is probably just under 40%. Three of my Ukes seem fine, but that is now two that have had problems so I'm thinking it is probably under that 40%.

Thanks guys for giving some suggestions to start off with...
 
It may be worthwhile to get an accurate reading on the humidity in your house first. Here in Minnesota the indoor humidity during the winter is about 20~25% during the coldest period (i.e. when the heaters are working the hardest). In spring~fall, when the heaters are off, it's usually right around 40% indoors with central air conditioning on. I keep all my ukes in cases anyway, but during the 40% humidity period, I don't bother filling my in-case humidifiers, so the humidity inside the cases and outside should be about the same. I've never experienced a problem with any ukes in the ~40% humidity environment, including my Kamaka HF-3. If the true humidity reading in your house is 40% or even 35%, maybe it isn't the humidity causing the cracking problems.
 
You will achieve similar results with most home-use humidifiers. I would be sure, though, to get one that will effectively work in the room. Know the square footage of the room before you go shopping. And if the door to the room is always open to the rest of the house, the unit will not necessarily need to humidify the entire house or floor, but get one that will work in a space larger than just that room. A little bigger is better than a little too small. Then, don't let it run dry.

And, I would get a separate reliable humidistat. That way you needn't rely on one attached to the humidifier.
 
What else could be a possible cause for cracking (apart from "blunt trauma")?

It could be sudden changes in heat and humidity. You don't just want to keep the humidity around 45%. You want it to be cosistant. Keeping ukes in a case helps because changes take longer to get into the case.

Also, cracks could just be flaws in the wood..
 
In New England we can suffer both extremes from low to high humidity swings depending on season. Keeping the room where I have all my ukes and guitars above 40% RH in Winter would be a dream. I've tried a number of different humidifiers and the kind that works best for me is the evaporative kind. Most have a wick of some sort and I went with one that has a wick you shouldn't have to replace (permaWick). I bought this one at Target, but better prices may be had elsewhere.

http://www.hunterfan.com/Products/Humidifiers/The-CareFree-Humidifier-33288/

My room is about 15x20 and I keep the door closed. It has a humidistat that works fine but it's not digital. It's just a dial that every season I turn it on full blast while checking the hygrometer over a couple of hours. When you reach desired RH, then simply turn the dial until the fan stops. Works well like that and I can maintain 45% RH easily. For me, around 45% is a nice compromise between RH and having to fill up the tank more than once a day. All in all I'd probably prefer a digital humidistat and bigger tank, but it's serves its purpose at a decent price point. It's not terribly loud at the low fan setting where I keep it. About the same noise as a 20" box fan on low for comparison. I also like that it doesn't stay on all the time once your setting is achieved. Also one thing to note, the room is noticeably cooler with this humidifier-- around 5 degrees lower than rest of house.

I found one on Overstock.com that is the same maker but with a bigger tank that might suit you. Says it does 2000 sq ft. Can't speak for it personally though.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garde...000357392&track=pspla&adtype=pla&kw={keyword}

The ultrasonic mist type didn't fare well for me. One created a noticeably wet area on the floor around the device and the other started spitting white powder from the minerals in the water. They say to use distilled water to avoid that. Too much hassle and expense for me. I've read online all about quality concerns for humidifiers from all different manufacturers, but in my experience haven't had an issue with the two I have. Both are on their third Winter.

I'll be reading with interest about other's experiences.
 
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Having had a HOUSE FIRE from one humidifier, I can recommend this sonic one as there is no heating element and it makes a nice fine dispersal.
 
What else could be a possible cause for cracking (apart from "blunt trauma")?

I don't know. I was just pointing out that if the uke develop cracks in constant 35~40% humidity, it probably didn't crack due to low humidity.
 
My wife has a music studio with a grand & upright pianos that must also be humidified. After trying multiple humidifiers, we found the best option to be a Warm Mist humidifier.
- Regular humidifiers need to be cleaned far more ofter and/or need chemicals to reduce bacteria
- Regular humidifiers are loud - especial ultrasonic ones
- Regular humidifiers moisture does not disperse evenly throughout the room.
- Regular humidifiers cool-down the room, which is one of the last things you want to do in winter.

OTOH Warm mist humidifiers:
- little to no bacteria concerns (it is hot steam), no chemicals!
- Room temp is maintained, or may even goes up 1 degree
- More quiet
- More even humidity in the room.

We have a small (2 gallon?) in the corner of the room and refill it only once a day. Humidity reading don't vary by more than 2% throughout the room. We live in Chicago and the rest of our house drops to below 20%.
 
Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I just bought a digital wall hygrometer -- it turns out that it was 36% humidity in here. I just set up the humidifier that I got - a Honeywell ultrasonic so I'll see if that helps. It has been on about five minutes and already it has gone up to 38%.

I've got the door to the office closed for now but the instructions noted that if it causes the windows to fog that you shouldn't do that. So maybe I'll open up the door once I can get it regulated to around 45%. It is a little louder than I would like, but it is worth giving a try. If this doesn't work out, I'll just put all of the ukes in cases with Oasis humidifiers from now on, but hopefully this will solve my issue. Thanks again. :)

Edit: after forty minutes, I'm now up to 42% humidity.
 
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i prefer evaporative humidifiers as they don't put out white dust into the room like ultrasonic humidifiers can (unless you use distilled water or special filters) and i perceive them to spread humidity throughout a room more evenly. i also find them to be easier to maintain, other than having to change the wick fairly often. i have the air-o-swiss evaporative humidifier - more info here: http://www.airoswiss.net/info/evaporators/e2441.aspx - easy to fill and maintain/clean.

i had a pureguardian ultrasonic humidifier in the past and i DO NOT recommend them. too much trouble to maintain/clean and still developed a lot of scale/rust.
 
i prefer evaporative humidifiers as they don't put out white dust into the room like ultrasonic humidifiers can (unless you use distilled water or special filters) and i perceive them to spread humidity throughout a room more evenly. i also find them to be easier to maintain, other than having to change the wick fairly often. i have the air-o-swiss evaporative humidifier - more info here: http://www.airoswiss.net/info/evaporators/e2441.aspx - easy to fill and maintain/clean.

i had a pureguardian ultrasonic humidifier in the past and i DO NOT recommend them. too much trouble to maintain/clean and still developed a lot of scale/rust.

Yeah, I think the one I got is a bit of a quick fix for me. I just spent most of my cash on my KoAloha so I bought a cheap one for right now -- and the Honeywell was on sale at Target. That being said, I think I will eventually upgrade to the one you mentioned. But with one uke that had a seam separate, and another cracked, I was desperate to get something ASAP.
 
Hey how is the Kala travel tenor? I'm about to order the one with the pick-up and was wondering about tone and volume given the size of the body?
 
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