Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

One can buy humidifiers but is this any more effective than soaking and
wringing out a hand towel and putting it on a radiator? Given that the
alleged main cause off too high humidity is drying the washing indoors on
the radiators.

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?


Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

Just curious but what do you mean by €œtoo dry€�? Too dry for what?


The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.


If you didnt own a humidistat would you have been aware that there was an
€œissue€�?

Tim


--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 07/12/2019 12:59:48, David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

One can buy humidifiers but is this any more effective than soaking and
wringing out a hand towel and putting it on a radiator? Given that the
alleged main cause off too high humidity is drying the washing indoors on
the radiators.

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?

Boiling kettle with lid off/up?

Less air circulation?

At the temperature of interest it may well be 33% because of cold spots
that condense the water down to this level.

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:07:19 +0000, Tim+ wrote:

David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

Just curious but what do you mean by €œtoo dry€�? Too dry for what?


The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.


If you didnt own a humidistat would you have been aware that there was
an €œissue€�?

Tim

Yes.

Too dry for me, my eyes and nose.

Yes, I was aware that there was an issue before looking at the humidistat.
That was the first step towards tackling dryness of eyes, itchiness of
nose.

That is, confirming that the house is very dry internally as is common
with centrally heated houses during the winter when the outside air is
carrying very little moisture because of the cold temperature.

Not helped by the shower room having a humidistat controlled fan to keep
the moisture levels down. Turning that off might help.


Cheers


Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:11:27 +0000, Fredxx wrote:

On 07/12/2019 12:59:48, David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

One can buy humidifiers but is this any more effective than soaking and
wringing out a hand towel and putting it on a radiator? Given that the
alleged main cause off too high humidity is drying the washing indoors
on the radiators.

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but
that is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?

Boiling kettle with lid off/up?

Less air circulation?

At the temperature of interest it may well be 33% because of cold spots
that condense the water down to this level.

Very energy inefficient, or so I have read.

I'm also not sure for how long you would have to boil a kettle to get the
humidity levels up significantly.

As noted in another response, running the shower without the extractor fan
might be one way to increase the overall humidity.


Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

In article ,
says...

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.


My wife bought some special containers off the internet.

They are long and narrow with a semi-circular cross section so
keep flat to the radiator and hang from the radiator on a
longish wire double hook.

Not that I've tried (!) but I would say it is impossible to
spill them!


--

Terry

David wrote:

Any ingenious solutions?

Dunk an ultrasonic fog/mist maker in a vase of water?

On 07/12/2019 12:59, David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

Any ingenious solutions?

Get a big dog.

Bill

In article -
september.org, lid says...

In article ,
says...

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.


My wife bought some special containers off the internet.

They are long and narrow with a semi-circular cross section so
keep flat to the radiator and hang from the radiator on a
longish wire double hook.

Not that I've tried (!) but I would say it is impossible to
spill them!

They don't seem to be avialable at the moment from this seller
but these look like the ones she bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betterware-...iator-Hanging-
Humidifier/dp/B006UCVUZQ

or: https://tinyurl.com/r2pe576

--

Terry

On Saturday, 7 December 2019 13:21:09 UTC, David WE Roberts (Google) wrote:
On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:07:19 +0000, Tim+ wrote:
David wrote:

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.


If you didnt own a humidistat would you have been aware that there was
an €œissue€�?

Tim

Yes.

Too dry for me, my eyes and nose.


Not helped by the shower room having a humidistat controlled fan to keep
the moisture levels down. Turning that off might help.

that's what I'd do

Wet cloth on radiator will rust it after a while.


NT

We have an issue with there being any attempt to.
1 change the duvet cover
2 vacuum the carpets
3, perform some 'excursuses on the floor' tends to create huge static
discharges when the person doing these things touches something large and
metal like the bed frame a filing cabinet, the screw of a light switch.
Increasing the humidity does help.

Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Tim+" wrote in message
...
David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

Just curious but what do you mean by "too dry"? Too dry for what?


The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.


If you didn't own a humidistat would you have been aware that there was an
"issue"?

Tim


--
Please don't feed the trolls

Then the house smells of wet dog, lanolin in the main, but its not that
pleasant if you are a visitor.


Many years ago there used to be a kind of device based on capillary matting
like a curtain which one put up behind a radiator with a tank of water
below it. Not sure how good they were, or whether they started to grow
stuff, but one seems not to see them these days.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
On 07/12/2019 12:59, David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

Any ingenious solutions?

Get a big dog.

Bill

On 07/12/2019 13:23, David wrote:
On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:11:27 +0000, Fredxx wrote:
On 07/12/2019 12:59:48, David wrote:

Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

Any ingenious solutions?

Boiling kettle with lid off/up?

Less air circulation?

At the temperature of interest it may well be 33% because of cold spots
that condense the water down to this level.

Very energy inefficient, or so I have read.

I'm also not sure for how long you would have to boil a kettle to get the
humidity levels up significantly.

Very appropriately, the temperature of the air in degC is the same as
the number of grams of water vapour per cubic metre for saturated
(100%RH) air at that temperature[1]

If your house is 33%RH at 18degC, than you have 18 x 33/100 grams of
water vapour per cubic metre in it, which comes out at 6 grams.

To get the air up to 50%RH you need to add 18 x 50/100 - 6 = 3 grams of
water per cubic metre of house, so for a 100 cubic meter house that's
300 grams, which you'd need to ensure is evenly distributed. Cold spots
may be an issue. Drying laundry indoors will help to get the humidity up.

[1] Over a limited range, say 10 to 25 degC. Air at 0degC still has ~4.5
grams per cubic metre of water vapour in it.


--
Spike

On 08/12/2019 10:24:52, Spike wrote:
On 07/12/2019 13:23, David wrote:
On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:11:27 +0000, Fredxx wrote:
On 07/12/2019 12:59:48, David wrote:

Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

Any ingenious solutions?

Boiling kettle with lid off/up?

Less air circulation?

At the temperature of interest it may well be 33% because of cold spots
that condense the water down to this level.

Very energy inefficient, or so I have read.

I'm also not sure for how long you would have to boil a kettle to get the
humidity levels up significantly.

Very appropriately, the temperature of the air in degC is the same as
the number of grams of water vapour per cubic metre for saturated
(100%RH) air at that temperature[1]

If your house is 33%RH at 18degC, than you have 18 x 33/100 grams of
water vapour per cubic metre in it, which comes out at 6 grams.

To get the air up to 50%RH you need to add 18 x 50/100 - 6 = 3 grams of
water per cubic metre of house, so for a 100 cubic meter house that's
300 grams, which you'd need to ensure is evenly distributed. Cold spots
may be an issue. Drying laundry indoors will help to get the humidity up.

So a 3kW kettle with 300g of water might run dry in ~40s

90 x 300 x 4.2 / (3000)

(assuming water out the tap at 10C and latent heat of vapourisation is
too small to worry about)

On Sun, 08 Dec 2019 10:24:52 +0000, Spike wrote:

On 07/12/2019 13:23, David wrote:
On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:11:27 +0000, Fredxx wrote:
On 07/12/2019 12:59:48, David wrote:

Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33%
in the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

Any ingenious solutions?

Boiling kettle with lid off/up?

Less air circulation?

At the temperature of interest it may well be 33% because of cold
spots that condense the water down to this level.

Very energy inefficient, or so I have read.

I'm also not sure for how long you would have to boil a kettle to get
the humidity levels up significantly.

Very appropriately, the temperature of the air in degC is the same as
the number of grams of water vapour per cubic metre for saturated
(100%RH) air at that temperature[1]

If your house is 33%RH at 18degC, than you have 18 x 33/100 grams of
water vapour per cubic metre in it, which comes out at 6 grams.

To get the air up to 50%RH you need to add 18 x 50/100 - 6 = 3 grams of
water per cubic metre of house, so for a 100 cubic meter house that's
300 grams, which you'd need to ensure is evenly distributed. Cold spots
may be an issue. Drying laundry indoors will help to get the humidity
up.

[1] Over a limited range, say 10 to 25 degC. Air at 0degC still has ~4.5
grams per cubic metre of water vapour in it.

Thanks!

I was not looking forward to researching how much water I would need to
release.


Cheers


Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 22:29:31 +0000, Terry Casey wrote:

In article - september.org,
lid says...

In article ,
says...

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but
that is also a spill risk.


My wife bought some special containers off the internet.

They are long and narrow with a semi-circular cross section so keep
flat to the radiator and hang from the radiator on a longish wire
double hook.

Not that I've tried (!) but I would say it is impossible to spill them!

They don't seem to be avialable at the moment from this seller but these
look like the ones she bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betterware-...iator-Hanging-
Humidifier/dp/B006UCVUZQ

or: https://tinyurl.com/r2pe576

Thanks.

Looks a useful option.


Cheers



Dave R



--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On 07/12/2019 12:59, David wrote:
Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

One can buy humidifiers but is this any more effective than soaking and
wringing out a hand towel and putting it on a radiator? Given that the
alleged main cause off too high humidity is drying the washing indoors on
the radiators.

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?


Cheers



Dave R



employ Mike Halmaracks wife as a live-in cook.

She likes steaming everything :-)

David writes:

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 22:29:31 +0000, Terry Casey wrote:

They don't seem to be avialable at the moment from this seller but these
look like the ones she bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betterware-...iator-Hanging-
Humidifier/dp/B006UCVUZQ

or: https://tinyurl.com/r2pe576

Thanks.

Looks a useful option.

Houseplants?

--
Jón Fairbairn

On 09/12/2019 09:38, Jon Fairbairn wrote:
David writes:
On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 22:29:31 +0000, Terry Casey wrote:

They don't seem to be avialable at the moment from this seller but these
look like the ones she bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betterware-...iator-Hanging-
Humidifier/dp/B006UCVUZQ

or: https://tinyurl.com/r2pe576

Thanks.

Looks a useful option.

Houseplants?

Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) might be useful.

--
Spike

On Sat, 07 Dec 2019 12:59:48 +0000, David wrote:

Unusually (most problems seem to be from too much moisture) the house
seems to be verging on too dry.

The humidistat part of the inside/outside thermometer is showing 33% in
the main living area. Not perhaps very accurate but certainly an
indication.

One can buy humidifiers but is this any more effective than soaking and
wringing out a hand towel and putting it on a radiator? Given that the
alleged main cause off too high humidity is drying the washing indoors
on the radiators.

One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but
that is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?


Ah, well.

Original humidistat is currently reading 26% at 19.4C.

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing around
44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that the
humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Still feels dry to me, though.


Cheers



Dave R



--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing around
44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that the
humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a pile of
wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH, and is only mildly
temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent readings off.


Thomas Prufer

On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing
around 44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that
the humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a
pile of wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH,
and is only mildly temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent readings
off.

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 9 Dec 2019 14:22:26 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!

.... which is inherently more accurate.

Though ISTR the wet bulb sock needs to be salt-free, distilled/demineralized
water only.


Thomas Prufer

On 09/12/2019 14:22, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing
around 44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that
the humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a
pile of wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH,
and is only mildly temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent readings
off.

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!


I have one too, good old-fashioned mercury greenhouse
thermometer.

Problem is the wick goes mouldy, black and slimy and I
can't find a suitable wick substitute.

What do others use ?.

On Mon, 9 Dec 2019 15:33:27 +0000, Andrew
wrote:

Problem is the wick goes mouldy, black and slimy and I
can't find a suitable wick substitute.

ISTR white cotton is fine, i.e. a clean braided rope with the core pulled out,
or bandage material.

Or bleach the wick, and rinse it very thoroughly?


Thomas Prufer

David wrote:
One alternative is the traditional bowl of water on the radiator, but that
is also a spill risk.

Any ingenious solutions?

There are loads of humidifier designs on youtube, mostly intended to be
swamp coolers. Search 'diy air cooler'.

For a cold environment, you'd need to add some heat.

Theo

On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:22:26 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing
around 44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that
the humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a
pile of wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH,
and is only mildly temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent
readings off.

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!

Made me go and look.
I thought they would be more expensive, but it looks as though they can be
had for £15-£20.
Presumably because they are a common item used by gardeners.


Any recommendations?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zeal-Englan...ter-Masons/dp/
B00AO6MRCO

as an example.



Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 15:33:27 +0000, Andrew wrote:

On 09/12/2019 14:22, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing
around 44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests
that the humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless
Chinese factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a
pile of wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH,
and is only mildly temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent
readings off.

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!


I have one too, good old-fashioned mercury greenhouse thermometer.

Problem is the wick goes mouldy, black and slimy and I can't find a
suitable wick substitute.

What do others use ?.

I bought a roll of wick from somewhere. Probably eBay.

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Sunday, 8 December 2019 12:13:16 UTC, Fredxx wrote:
On 08/12/2019 10:24:52, Spike wrote:

I'm also not sure for how long you would have to boil a kettle to get the
humidity levels up significantly.

Very appropriately, the temperature of the air in degC is the same as
the number of grams of water vapour per cubic metre for saturated
(100%RH) air at that temperature[1]

If your house is 33%RH at 18degC, than you have 18 x 33/100 grams of
water vapour per cubic metre in it, which comes out at 6 grams.

To get the air up to 50%RH you need to add 18 x 50/100 - 6 = 3 grams of
water per cubic metre of house, so for a 100 cubic meter house that's
300 grams, which you'd need to ensure is evenly distributed. Cold spots
may be an issue. Drying laundry indoors will help to get the humidity up.

So a 3kW kettle with 300g of water might run dry in ~40s

90 x 300 x 4.2 / (3000)

(assuming water out the tap at 10C and latent heat of vapourisation is
too small to worry about)

lol.

People talk about humidifiers, in reality you can just use a handheld sprayer to dampen the carpet slightly - don't overdo it! Leaving an inch of water in the bath would also get somewhere.


NT

In message , David
writes

Any ingenious solutions?

I would go with a radiator humidifier, as already mentioned. Simple,
foolproof and just works. Ceramic, can be hung behind the radiator if
gap large enough.
--
Graeme

On 09/12/2019 22:19, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 15:33:27 +0000, Andrew wrote:

On 09/12/2019 14:22, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing
around 44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests
that the humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless
Chinese factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a
pile of wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH,
and is only mildly temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent
readings off.

I just have a wet and dry bulb version!


I have one too, good old-fashioned mercury greenhouse thermometer.

Problem is the wick goes mouldy, black and slimy and I can't find a
suitable wick substitute.

What do others use ?.

I bought a roll of wick from somewhere. Probably eBay.


trouble is I only want a piece about 4 centimetres long.
if I bought a whole roll, I would then put it somewhere 'safe'
for future use, and then never find it again (except when
looking for something entirely different) :-)

I'll see if I can get a roll of cotton 'twine' and knit
one. The twine is always useful for gardening and suchlike.

On Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:23:51 +0100, Thomas Prufer
wrote:

On 9 Dec 2019 12:26:56 GMT, David wrote:

The new one I bought for not much money as a cross check is showing around
44%. It also has a maximum/minimum function which suggests that the
humidity isn't varying by much.

I now have a Boeing problem; that is, two sensors which disagree.

So do I trust the new one or look for a 3rd one from a different
manufacturer?

Given that most may be using the same component from a nameless Chinese
factory.


Cross-check with the air over a saturated table salt solution, i.e. a pile of
wet salt in a jar or tupperware container. This gives 75% rH, and is only mildly
temperature-dependent.

Don't get salt on the sensor, as that will throp all subsequent readings off.

I'll let my sister-in-law know immediately.