Humidity HELP!

[Pals]

Hello Steven,

In spite of appearances, I THINK we kind of agree !

Originally Posted by IdahoOrchid

That is not always true. I used to work at a facility that used these and they were calibrated by a mil spec qualified company. There was ALWAYS some variation across the range. Consumer grade hygros will be even worse, especially if they come from different places or use different technology.

I would have hoped that a hygro, calibrated by a professional mil spec qualified company, situated in a professional working environment (not one of your cheap Home Depot knock-off's) would be so accurate that the variations would be down to its extreme sensitivity and accuracy otherwise it begs the question: "What's the point of it?"
Unfortunately, Consumer Grade hygros are the only ones that are most freely available and affordable to some particularly if you are buying more than one, and a measure of 50% humidity should be 50% regardless of where the hygrometer came from or what technology was used, so if you are buying consumer grade and there are six on offer at your local store showing 30, 70 & 80% but 3 showing (around) 55% then choose one of the hygros which show the most consistant measure even though this is no guarantee of its accuracy.

Originally Posted by IdahoOrchid

As a side note, I don't think that condensation on a window is an indication that humidity is adequate. The science of that just says that yes, there is SOME humidity in the area of the window.

Sorry Steven, on this one I do have to disagree !
I dry the condensation from the windows (something I NEVER have to do in summer), my (non-Consumer Grade) Hygro is placed on the far opposite side of the window wall and has jumped 20 degrees to 60%, not that I need to look at it because I can FEEL the difference, so unless there is a dry vacuum between these two points (unlikely) then I think it's a pretty sure bet that the humidity in the room has somewhat increased.
BUT...... the point of the wet windows comment was not so much about the increased humidity but the practicalities of having this amount of moisture in an internal room for long periods, a greenhouse?, yes, great, bring it on, but a bedroom?

Regards,

Pals

(ps. Are we still friends ???)