Bellies forming on acoustic guitars..Not bad yet,,but...Still Worried..

ToneControl

What's your flat/house like?
Warm, cold, old, damp?
Do you run the heating a lot or never.
Where is it, do you have snowy long winters, or rainy.

As mentioned, buy a humidity measuring gadget.
I'd buy 2 or 3 cheap ones, then you can go with the majority vote between them, and also spread them around to measure different areas.

In a normal modern house, it will get very dry in the winter when the heating is on and it is icy/snowy
When highest indoor humidity happens, you will notice: either in the winter if you are cooking a lot or drying clothes on radiators, or getting a roof leak - you will get condensation on windows, or in the summer, when you will feel that it is sweaty and humid.

Generally in the UK, low humidity kills more guitars than high humidity

KevS

OK,my Hygrometer /Indoor Humidity and Temperature Thermometer has arrived..

Do I set it up in a case,,or in the room with the cases..  ?

drofluf

I’d set it up in the room, but my guitars live on stands

Lewy

KevS said:

OK,my Hygrometer /Indoor Humidity and Temperature Thermometer has arrived..

Do I set it up in a case,,or in the room with the cases..  ?

Set it up in the room as a first step. See what overall environment you're working with. If things have been overly humid, then your cases may be too - they can be like sponges for humidity with all the padding, plush lining etc

drofluf

If you want to know the humidity inside a case I’d get something like this: ThermoPro TP357 Bluetooth Hygrometer Thermometer Indoor with Alerts, https://amzn.eu/d/0gb45YhU  

it will also show how the humidity has changed over time. 

ToneControl

KevS said:

OK,my Hygrometer /Indoor Humidity and Temperature Thermometer has arrived..

Do I set it up in a case,,or in the room with the cases..  ?

in the room, not in the sun, not near radiators, not on a wall
Ideally near the guitars, not on the floor

KevS

ToneControl said:

KevS said:

OK,my Hygrometer /Indoor Humidity and Temperature Thermometer has arrived..

Do I set it up in a case,,or in the room with the cases..  ?

in the room, not in the sun, not near radiators, not on a wall
Ideally near the guitars, not on the floor

Exactly where I have it.. 57 at the moment..

KevS

It is sitting at 60 %

ToneControl

KevS said:

ToneControl said:

KevS said:

OK,my Hygrometer /Indoor Humidity and Temperature Thermometer has arrived..

Do I set it up in a case,,or in the room with the cases..  ?

in the room, not in the sun, not near radiators, not on a wall
Ideally near the guitars, not on the floor

Exactly where I have it.. 57 at the moment..

sounds fine. You now need to keep an eye on it through the year. Winter is the worst time.
Personally I don't rely on just one, the odd one is 5% out.

AFAIK bellying is cause by damp conditions, and in the UK that would be rare unless you have water leaks, dry clothes on radiators, keep guitars near a steamy kitchen, use a paraffin or calor gas heater indoors.
Also, some people over-humidify their guitar cases:

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


As I say, dry air causes more damage:
https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/maintenance/symptoms-dry-guitar

ToneControl

KevS said:

It is sitting at 60 %

you'll just have to keep an eye on it long term
the only other advice I can give is only possible with the answers to these questions:

ToneControl said:

What's your flat/house like?
Warm, cold, old, damp?
Do you run the heating a lot or never.
Where is it, do you have snowy long winters, or rainy.

plus the other things about drying clothes, cooking, etc

do you have water leaks, dry clothes on radiators, keep guitars near a steamy kitchen, use a paraffin or calor gas heater indoors.
Might you be over-humidifying it inside the guitar case?

I just use a humidifier on a hygrostat in the winter, I don't keep any in their cases, UK humidity in the house rarely gets past 60%

KevS

ToneControl said:

KevS said:

It is sitting at 60 %

you'll just have to keep an eye on it long term
the only other advice I can give is only possible with the answers to these questions:

ToneControl said:

What's your flat/house like?
Warm, cold, old, damp?
Do you run the heating a lot or never.
Where is it, do you have snowy long winters, or rainy.

plus the other things about drying clothes, cooking, etc

do you have water leaks, dry clothes on radiators, keep guitars near a steamy kitchen, use a paraffin or calor gas heater indoors.
Might you be over-humidifying it inside the guitar case?

I just use a humidifier on a hygrostat in the winter, I don't keep any in their cases, UK humidity in the house rarely gets past 60%

Hi..I live on a ground floor council flat with a stone floor and ceiling..
I live in Scotland,so even in July I will sometimes turn my heating on..
Edinburgh is a bit more humid than some places..I have found this compared to other places I have lived..
The kitchen is at the opposite corner of the flat.The guitars in the living room seem quite stable,next room is the kitchen..
As I am partially disabled,I have a wet room rather than the normal bathroom..
My toilet does have a slight leak just now,but it is slight...
I don't dry clothes on radiators,just on a clothes horse in the wet room..

The humidity is currently 57%.

The humidity for the weather today is 49% if that matters at all..

I am very wary as my last place had serious problems,so as soon as I saw a difference,I reacted..
I lost several guitars in the past,,mainly solid body Fenders with body end truss rod adjustment..,a dehumidifier kept things stable once I realised that was how to solve things.Getting that info in guitar shops was difficult,no one seemed to know...I still have one,but have never used it in this flat....The bottom floor windows in that block the windows were totally steamed up constantly..
Mine the same at times..Things improved a bit when they put in double glazing..
It had high ceilings and temperature extremes..It cracked the nitro on part of my Les Paul.. 
It is Edinburgh,so I couldn't afford tp move..

The earlier you catch a problem,the better..I learned a hard lesson before....
So I am hyper aware...