Confused about Humidity

johnnysmash

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I have never really understood this thing about ukulele and humidity. So I am posting today to see if what I think is correct or not. I think if one lives in a tropical part of the world, hot and humid that there is no need to worry. However, if one lived in a cold, dry area then one should worry about humidity levels. I live in Thailand, hot and humid most of the year. One or two months it cools down a little but is still humid. More so than Florida or New Orleans, my previous homes. So I do not concern myself with the humidity thing. Am I right or wrong?
 
Short answer:
You're probably right.

Long answer:
It depends. The sweet spot for ukes, and all wooden instruments for that matter, is around 40-60% relative humidity. If you live in a tropical climate there's probably not much risk of having too low humidity but if it goes significantly higher than 60% for long periods of time your ukes can experience more severe issues than low humidity might cause. Now, if humidity is 35% or 65% for a few days during the year, does it cause damage to the uke? Probably not. Where I live, it's just now starting to get under 40% relative humidity. I'm not panicking over it but I am starting to fill up both my room and instrument humidifiers. My advice is, get a hygrometer.
 
A more technically correct answer is that any instrument is best stored and played at the humidity at which it was built.
As you live in the tropics then instruments built in the tropics are just fine for you.
When foreigners buy instruments built in the tropics and take them to places that are dry then that becomes a problem.
Places where the humidity varies greatly can also be problematic.
 
An instrument that's in a too humid environment can have mold and wood swelling, which can be just as bad as effects of too dry environment.
I can't find the Taylor Guitar's web reference that explains it really well ATM; I'll post it later.

Here it is:

https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/maintenance/symptoms-wet-guitar


Actually, I just read that article; it isn't the one I was thinking of. The one I had in mind was much more detailed and talked about a host of issues. Let me see if I can find it....

Well, looks like I can't find it. It may have been a video. If somebody finds it, please post.
 
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There is also the matter of seasonal changes. If humidity is constantly moist or dry eventually the uke will be in equilibrium with that and be fine. But in my area humidity in the summer is pleasant around 60% but in winter it gets extremely cold and indoor humidity can drop below 10%. Solid woods respond quite fast to these changes and cracks can occur easily. So I tend to use soundhole humidifiers on my solid wood instruments as soon as humidity indoors goes down toward 30% and I remove the humidifiers when we are solidly above 40%.
 
I remember reading that optimal humidity is 50% and factories are kept at around that level. Their recommended storage is 40-60%.
Solid ukes from less diligent makers may look good now but might not last because the factories may not have age the wood well and watch for these issues.
 
hygrometer and humidity

I am primarily a double bassist and so I have a room in my house that I work to keep in the 40-60% range year round. My ukes live there too. I own a humidifier and a dehumidifier, plus a handheld hygrometer. I use the one Nick Lloyd (a great bass luthier) talks about here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTB86mE0mmI&t=3s

He also recommends those Boveda packs, which I use for my bass - I also stuff one in my uke case when I bring it from my home in western Washington to my wife's family's house in Montana (where I am now).
 
Cold weather is usually not a problem unless your room is artificially heated. Heating can reduce the humidity.
 
I started to use a room humidifier in here today, Finland. I did not feel so well and neither does my string instruments with the lack of humidity.

Artificially heated, what is that? Without heating we all would freeze to death here in north just as simple as that.
 
I tend not to cogitate about this excessively. I don't try to balance out my ratiocinations to see if it is right or wrong, necessary or not; I just put my ukes in hard cases with a hygrometer. I live in a mountainous desert where it is hot in summer, cold in winter, and without much humidity. So I use oasis soundhole humidifiers and make sure the hygrometer is around 40%. Easy peasy. And not expensive. Each of the aforementioned tools cost around $20--a mere pittance when compared to how much the ukuleles cost.
 
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Also, if you have air conditioning in your home it can potentially reduce humidity significantly. Having a hygrometer will answer the unknown.
 
I have never really understood this thing about ukulele and humidity. So I am posting today to see if what I think is correct or not. I think if one lives in a tropical part of the world, hot and humid that there is no need to worry. However, if one lived in a cold, dry area then one should worry about humidity levels. I live in Thailand, hot and humid most of the year. One or two months it cools down a little but is still humid. More so than Florida or New Orleans, my previous homes. So I do not concern myself with the humidity thing. Am I right or wrong?

I also live in Asia. My experience is that storing a wooden musical instrument for long with high humidity (over 70%) will diminish its sound quality.

Also, you have to be careful with the temparature difference after switching off the air-conditioner, cuz water droplets can condense on the colder surface of the instrument afterwards. If kept the instrument for long without proper care moulds can grow inside the gigbag/ case/ instrument. So for somewhere as humid as Thailand dehumidification is a must. You may do so by buying a dehumidifier or dehumifying gel packs (some are reusable).

If you want to lower the humidity of the storage, you should do it gradually (and don't use heat!) or the wood can shrink rapidly and crack.
 
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The best range for humidity concerns are 42-50%. It can vary slightly now and then and this can be difficult some times depending on where you live, but shoot for the best.
 
To add to the mix:
The humidity in Honolulu goes between 51% in July and 79% in January.
HMS sends a note with it's ukes: "Ukuleles require an environment around 50% relative humidity. If you are below 35% or above 65% humidity, have a means of humidifying or dehumidifying."
 
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Also, if you have air conditioning in your home it can potentially reduce humidity significantly. Having a hygrometer will answer the unknown.

Is this correct? If you meant just cooling the house, wouldn't that increase the relative humidity? In my house I need to run the dehumidifier when running the air conditioner.

In general, the inside of the refrigerator is moist and the toaster/oven is dry.
 
Is this correct? If you meant just cooling the house, wouldn't that increase the relative humidity? In my house I need to run the dehumidifier when running the air conditioner.

In general, the inside of the refrigerator is moist and the toaster/oven is dry.

I think AC reduces humidity because when I turn it on, I feel less sticky.
Cold air holds less water than warm air. So, if AC increases humidity, then I should feel stickier.
Now, I'm curious... I should look this thing up sometime.
 
32% humidity in the house now time to refill the Oasis soon. I humidify three ukes and four guitars and refill them every week. It's a bit of an effort.
 
Is this correct? If you meant just cooling the house, wouldn't that increase the relative humidity? In my house I need to run the dehumidifier when running the air conditioner.

In general, the inside of the refrigerator is moist and the toaster/oven is dry.

I think AC reduces humidity because when I turn it on, I feel less sticky.
Cold air holds less water than warm air. So, if AC increases humidity, then I should feel stickier.
Now, I'm curious... I should look this thing up sometime.

Air Conditioning does remove moisture from the air. Both whole house and window a/c units dry the air.
In very dry climates, they often use evaporator coolers to cool buildings. Evaporating water cools the air.
Some table top "coolers" blow air over ice to cool and add moisture to the air.

The outside humidity was averaging in the mid to high sixties this summer. The A/C kept the inside humidity in the low to mid 50s. Many summers I've had to run dehumidifiers as well. Especially in the ground floor rooms.

I use a room evaporator humidifier in the winter in several rooms. It works by drawing water up into a paper wick and blowing air across the damp wick. They have electronic controls that automatically keep the RH within the percentage I set, plus or minus 4 percent. I fill the water container once a week and change the filter/wick once a month or so. They keep people and instruments healthier in the winter where our RH can get into single digits.
 
Is this correct? If you meant just cooling the house, wouldn't that increase the relative humidity? In my house I need to run the dehumidifier when running the air conditioner.

In general, the inside of the refrigerator is moist and the toaster/oven is dry.

The AC condenser is so cold, it sucks a lot of moisture out of the air as it passes over it and the cool air is much dryer. That's why the AC in cars turns on when you defog the front windshield. A good trick is to turn on the AC when defogging the window if you have an old car which doesn't have that feature (unless your old car doesn't have AC).
 
Over many yearsI have found that my instruments sound better at 47% humidity.
 
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