I think you actually had the best answer in one of your own posts, namely
that the temperature will need to be a bit lower in that particular room.
That's about the only way to drop the dew point near the skylight without
decreasing
the humidity housewide. Any air mixing you can get from ceiling fans or
more focused
air drivers will help as well. By the way, in winter, you would fans moving
air upward to
displace the moist strata at the ceiling.

Bill


"Mike Hartigan" wrote in message
ews.com...
Well, here we are in the midst of another winter of sub-zero
temperatures and I'm having the same problem I have every year at
this time. It didn't go away by itself again this year, so I thought
I'd ask for suggestions.

I built an office addition on my house about 12 years ago. There are
two skylights in this room (the preferred lighting alternative to
windows overlooking the side of the neighbor's house). I also have a
central humidifier which does a superb job (Craftsman 3000, 14 years
old, foam wheel type). As the outside temperature goes down, so goes
the humidistat (that's normal). This seems to keep the condensation
on the skylights to a minimum. Indeed, I use the condensation on the
skylights as a guide to setting the humidistat (simple, yet
effective). In case you haven't already guessed, these skylights are
the most condensation-prone sites in the house.

When the temperature gets into the single-digits or below, I have the
conflicting problems of dripping skylights and static discharges
whenever the kids touch other (which seems to happen a lot more often
under these conditions, but I digress). I dont want to reduce the
humidity further, since the static discharges suggest that it's
already too low. I don't want to increase it, since the condensation
suggests that it's already too high.

I have a ceiling fan in that room, and that seems to reduce the
problem somewhat (it doesn't eliminate it), but I'd like a 'better'
solution. Perhaps something to apply heat to those skylights, or
maybe small fans directed at them? Is this a common problem with a
common solution that maybe I'm just not aware of? I've searched and
can't really find anything that addresses this.

Thanks
-Mike