Humidifier - warm or cool mist ?

[Crunchy Wacko]

Hey everyone

My local store has a Cool moisture humidifier  and a  warm mist humidifier.

Does Larry care?

Thanks..chris

[drathbun]

Yes! I go warm mist all the way. My warm mist humidifier has solved all my guitar humidification problems. I simply set the onboard hygrometer to 50% RH and keep it filled with distilled water and I can keep all my guitars out on stands ready to play all winter! I love it. No messy filters crusted with ugly calcium and lime to clean up! I just rinse the base out and set the heat element in some vinegar for a few minutes each month and it is clean again.

Plus, it is very dry here in Calgary Alberta ALL YEAR LONG! I use the warm mist during the summer as well as the RH can dip to 10% when the wind blows.

[rpg51]

Warm

[jwsamuel]

Don't get either warm mist or cool mist. Get an evapoprative humidifier instead. The mist humidifiers can put out a dust that gets all over everything in the room. The dust is attracted to electronic equipment like TVs and computer monitors.

Jim

[sixpickn]

I use warm mist with digital % readout/control, and a $25 digital hygromter sitting close to the guitars to confirm accuracy.  Hanging wet towels (poor man's evaporitive humidifier) in the room after showering helps too during the dryest months.  Larrys like 45-50% at 70ºF.

[drathbun]

Don't get either warm mist or cool mist. Get an evapoprative humidifier instead. The mist humidifiers can put out a dust that gets all over everything in the room. The dust is attracted to electronic equipment like TVs and computer monitors.

Jim

This has never happened to me as I use only distilled water. It is the minerals in the water that are deposited as "dust". It helps if you have an electric water distiller though.

[Crunchy Wacko]

This comes right from Larrivee's recommondations.


"Using a cool mist room humidifier (not evaporative) will really help to bring up the moisture. You want the type that actually sprays mist".

[Nephidoc]

Both

Warm = Winter
Evaporative = Summer

Larry loves it.

Stan

[Peter Cree]

NO,NO,No..................never use the cool mist type.  The rise in Rh is way too low.  And they are a hassle to keep clean.  Distilled water can get pricey and you can get quite the cough.

Only get the warm mist type.  The type that boils the water so you get pure H2O.  It likes tap water of any hardness and they have no filters to clean.  Once a week you pull them apart and use some vinger and all the scale comes off.  A few drops of bleach into the main water container.  Wait 30 minutes and rinse.  No bacteria.

I have two of these after trying everything on the market.  The cool mist type are awful and don't humidify the guitars well at all.  I get my house up to 50% with the two 24.00, wal-mart specials (holmes).  Living in the New Mexico dryness makes it essential to take care of all my guitars this way.

What would Larrivee know about these things when they live in the land of moisture.  They should get that info off their site.

Just an opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............yeh right.

[Crunchy Wacko]

So are we saying that

Brian Trepanier
Customer Service Representative
Larrivee Guitars Ltd.
604-253-7111

is wrong or just that different enviornments require different  humidifiers?  That info came from the post

http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=9626.0    Feeding and Care of your Larrivee

cheers

[Peter Cree]

I just read the other thread on care and feeding of your Larrivee............

Yes, I'm saying Brian (with all due respect) is wrong.  Very wrong on some of that info.

Set-ups 2x a year?  Cool mist?  Wrong.  If you need a set-up that often then you need a different guitar.

Sorry but don't follow some of these suggestions.  Hate to be a party pooper here but I'm very experienced in these issues especially owning 20 guitars in the Desert of New Mexico.

Once again, sorry to  be antogonistic.  I'm not.  I just throughly disagree with some of the statements.  I can barely believe wht I just read.

Cheers,   Please I mean no harm here.  Just the opposite.

[Crunchy Wacko]

Thanks Peter for the honest opinions.   I get the feeling that theory and practice are 2 different things and warm is the way to go.

chris

[Peter Cree]

I and others here would be happy to talk about these things on the forum.  I respect Brian and his opinions.  Certainly they mean well and are very informed.

If Brian wants to chime in, welcome.  We can discuss these things with respect and calm.

Cheers.

[Crunchy Wacko]

Well said!   I am sure there is reasoning behind the "cool mist"  comment as Brian is a well respected person.

[jeremy3220]

I think it depends on where you live, as to whether or not the cool mist will do an adequate job of humidifying. I really prefer the warm mist but I think it will make my room feel hotter than it already is during the summer.

[dberch]

I've been using a Vornado evaporator type humidifier for 2 years now, and am considing a different type, so I'm reading this thread with interest.  Great info, and excellent low-key discussion with differing opinions.  (Really appreciate the quality folk here!)  This is what I'm using: http://www.vornado.com/model40.htm

It maintains 40% in a mid-western house with forced are heat.  This is a real problem room.  Upstairs, well insulated, converted attic office with heating vent that gets way too much heat.  Thermostat is downstairs.  On a cold winter eve it can shoot up to 85 degrees.   In the winter I tape the heater vent closed and use a sealed oil room heater and this humidifier.

My main complaints about my current humidifier are:
- At 50% it feels like 75%  I can feel the humidity in the air.
- Very prone to bacteria - have to use treatment with every fill
- Filters fill with lime a it flakes off in a few weeks.
- must be filled ever 2 days (probably can't get away from that)

Peter, you say you keep your whole house at 50% with two humidifiers?  What make and model are they?  I'd like to check them out.  Also, I question the accuracy of my humidity guage.  Where can I get one that's accurate for a reasonable price? 

Thanks,
David

[Matthew Larrivee]

Well, though I personally live in the land of moisture, I use a cool mist when the santa anna winds kick up here. The humidity gets down to 10-15% in very short order. However the heat is usually very high because it is desert wind.

I bought mine at target for 25 bucks and it's in the shape of a penguin - yeah a penguin. I fill it with R.O. water and it works like a dream. I put it on a table, and put a fan beside it so that it moves the moisture into the air. My guitar storage room is bang-on at 45%

Really you can use EITHER warm or cool mist as long as you are using humidification. It is six of one, half dozen of another.

Matthew

[Peter Cree]

Each climate is different and I've lived in them all.  And I get in guitars from all over the world.  So watching a guitar come in from England is quite the experience....

And I've used all the types........waste of bucks.   For me theres no comparison.  The rate of moisture entering the air in a cool mist is so much lower than a warm.  Plus anything with the filters etc are ,as you say, really prone to bacteria.  cough,cough!

Right now I live in an Adobe house which functions so well.  Warm in winter, cool in summer. 22" thick walls.  So, the efficiency is far greater in this type of house. 

I've spent 10 years living in California with guitars.  No comparison.  So what works for Matt is good for Matt.  Just isn't my experience.

The humidifiers I speak of are made by Holmes.........24.00 per unit, Auto-off switch.(wal-mart cheapies)   And like I said, I've tried all the rest and have a nice collection in the storage unit..........cool mist are unable to transfer the necessary moisture very far.   Move your hygrometer away from your guitars and you'll see immediately what I'm talking about.  Seems like they humidify a 5 foot circle.  I have a hygrometer near the guitars and in the adjoining room.   I take the one in the kitchen as spot on.  When I had just the cool mist the max I could reach in winter was around 35 to 40 %. MAX.  BUT the moisture would not permeate the air well.  Looked good.  But I was still having problems with tops.  (minor)  just because a unit is spewing mist doesn't mean it's entering the air well.  Cool moisture likes to keep to itself and not disperse well.

Switched to the cheapies and bingo, tops are up, all is very healthy.  The air enters the guitar.  Surrounds it as well.  Thats why I'm all for getting the guitars out of the case and up on stands.   You then humidify the entire guitar.  How does moisture permeate in a case?  What physics could possibly move that moisture around.  I think you get more cracks with the baggie sponge or the other types of in-guitar moisturizers.

Thanks for answering Matt.  We appreciate it and respect you for it.  Obviously I'm very opinionated here due to the extremes of high altitude and desert conditions.  Altitude matters alot.  I'm at 6100ft.  Santa Fe is 7000ft.   Nitro dries in 10 minutes.  Buffable in 24 hours or less.

And yes, I sure appreciate the calm discussion of dissenting opinions.  I only go to two forums now to avoid flaming and egos etc.  This should be about experienced differing views.   No competition for "know it all" of the week.  People here are very nice and thats why I hang around.

[drathbun]

I have to agree with Peter. My guitars are out on stands in 40% - 45% RH all year long and they seem to like it. I've done exactly one setup on my L05 since I've owned it.

[dberch]

Peter, is it this one?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=870414&sourceid=0100000030660804902498