Is central heating playing havoc with anyone else’s guitars?

VimFuego

there's a thread on the mandolin cafe site where the yanks are talking about adding humidity to their houses as they have issues with drying out (of people and instruments). This is not an issue down 'ere in Devon.

BRISTOL86

Adamski said:

BRISTOL86 said:

In the winter we end up drying clothes in the spare room...(where I play)...even with the washing in there it’s only 55% humidity....I think it’s keeping everything in balance nicely!

Washing fucks with the humidity badly in my place - it’s not uncommon for it to sometimes go up as high as 75%. Luckily I have a dehumidifier in the guitar room that keeps it at least sub 60 which is usually fine. 

Yeah in my spare room it can get ~75% sometimes with washing but since putting the heating on it’s staying in check at around 55 

bermudianbrit

ok so serious query, how does one prevent this? or at least offset it a bit?

guitars4you

In the shop I try to keep a fairly consistent temperature - however as you move from Oct/Nov and again around March/April, I find the tuning takes a few days to settle in again - Generally fine once the cold or summer spell has been established but the tuning changes quite a bit during the change of temp, currently to colder - hope that makes sense

Phil_aka_Pip

I  solved the problem by not playing. You don't notice tuning problems if you don't play.

Fretwired

Put a bowl of water on a window sill of get some green plants (and look after them). Plants continuously release moisture from their leaves and stems of plants as vapour. This process is called transpiration and as long as you keep them watered, they will help aid in regulating humidity levels in your home.

Bellycaster

It might not make your Guitars immune, but I always store my Guitars in their cases. I've not noticed any significant issues doing this.

richh

Any practical suggestions on regulating temperature and humidity?  The stuff about plants from @Fretwired looks interesting.  I've realised that the valves on our radiators don't actually work that well.  You've got off, which works, and the other settings don't seem to make much difference.  Seems like the rads closest to the boiler are roasting hot, even on minimal settings.

And for expensive guitars, if you store in their cases, what is the best way to do this, do you need something to control and measure the humidity?

rico

I don’t think storing guitars in their cases will make any difference. 

WezV

The best practical suggestion is to learn how to adjust a truss rod and perform minor setup tweaks.

The changes are not usually extreme in this country.  

as long as you don’t store guitars in bathrooms, kitchens or a conservatory... you should be okay.

VimFuego

Fretwired said:

Put a bowl of water on a window sill of get some green plants (and look after them). Plants continuously release moisture from their leaves and stems of plants as vapour. This process is called transpiration and as long as you keep them watered, they will help aid in regulating humidity levels in your home.

this is what people do who want to add humidity to a room, rarely an issue here in the UK (certainly not an issue here in Devon).

timmysoft

PRS is fine
Strat is less good but still ok

Elwood

rico said:

I don’t think storing guitars in their cases will make any difference. 

Cases, Hiscox for example quote figures for this, on how long the inside of the guitar case takes to reach the external temperature. 

I guess the advantage of them being in a case is the guitar is protected from immediate temp changes and allows it to slowly adjust.

rico

Elwood said:

rico said:

I don’t think storing guitars in their cases will make any difference. 

Cases, Hiscox for example quote figures for this, on how long the inside of the guitar case takes to reach the external temperature. 

I guess the advantage of them being in a case is the guitar is protected from immediate temp changes and allows it to slowly adjust.

Yeah I agree about that - I was talking about humidity.

MagicPigDetective

richh said:

Any practical suggestions on regulating temperature and humidity?  The stuff about plants from @Fretwired looks interesting.  I've realised that the valves on our radiators don't actually work that well.  You've got off, which works, and the other settings don't seem to make much difference.  Seems like the rads closest to the boiler are roasting hot, even on minimal settings.

And for expensive guitars, if you store in their cases, what is the best way to do this, do you need something to control and measure the humidity?

Try balancing the radiators

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/how-to-balance-radiators/

ToneControl

Adamski said:

Mine have been solid although my humidity has crept up to the early 60’s when the heating is on. With it off, it stays around the early 50’s which is where I usually keep it. Trying to air the place out without freezing my nuts off in the process! 

that's weird
central heating would normally bring humidity down inside a house
Could your heating be driving moisture out of walls behind radiators? or a could a flue be leaking? 

ToneControl

richh said:

Any practical suggestions on regulating temperature and humidity?  The stuff about plants from @Fretwired looks interesting.  I've realised that the valves on our radiators don't actually work that well.  You've got off, which works, and the other settings don't seem to make much difference.  Seems like the rads closest to the boiler are roasting hot, even on minimal settings.

And for expensive guitars, if you store in their cases, what is the best way to do this, do you need something to control and measure the humidity?

there's loads of threads on this already

just search for "humidity"

here's one:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/111425/


basically, IIRC when you heat air by 20C, it can then absorb twice as much water, so air from outside at 1C, that is 45% RELATIVE humidity (RH), when brought into your house and heated, becomes 22% RH

So: dry cold days mean low humidity inside centrally heated houses
since we breathe, sweat and cook, the effect is reduced a bit, but 30 to 35% RH is common, even below 30% sometimes
If it drops to 30%, it can trash an acoustic's top, get the frets sticking out on any guitar, and change the action a lot

You need to aim for 45% RH, +/- 5%

for this you need humidity sensors, and a humidifier, or keep throwing wet towels on radiators - but that's a bit hit and miss

richh

Thanks  for the tips - @MagicPigDetective I'll look at balancing out the rads, and @ToneControl I'll investigate the humidity thing. I was thinking of getting somebody in to look at the central heating system anyway, but I'll read up on it first.

darcym

I had the radiator removed from my guitar room, and thanks to the rest of the house having heating, the guitar room naturally absorbs a bit, which tends to make it pretty much the same temperature all year around so no issues yet.

thegummy

Surprised at all these issues, I've never noticed this.

Is it a very subtle problem or have I just been lucky? *touch wood*