Clog Hornpipe

Comment by Matthew Mickletz on August 14, 2012 at 4:14pm

Great questions Terry.  100% RH is the worst freak-out number! haha  We call that a leak though ;)  We do have ranges we like to keep Temp and RH at that are dependent on the time of the year we're in.  During the summer, our RH ranges from 45 to 55%, winter it's lower, around 35 to 45%.  Plus or minus 5% accounts for any fluxations.  We don't freak out right off the bat if we find a higher than normal or accepted RH, I'd say over 60% or under 40% this time of year - HVAC might be shut down for a quick repair, the outside temps and RH could've swung extremely in a short period of time and there is always user error.  If we see consecutive days of higher than we'd like RH, then we begin troubleshooting or can ID the issue and do what needs to be done (that's our Mechanical HVAC dudes, they rock and I'm glad we get along so well!).  

If I walk into a room and it's noticeably cold, 9 times out of 10, the RH is higher then it should be - many times 5% or a bit more higher.  An interesting fact it that your skin is actually picking up that it's colder than it really is due to the air having more moisture in it.  Warmer air therefore tends to be drier.  I can't say that we often see a moderate temp, say at 70F with 70%RH, for example, but it can happen.  Alls it takes is something to break or malfunction.  I can also say that RARELY do we ever see it above 68% anyway, nor lower than 35%, but it has happened and been fixed quickly.  Once we hit 10%RH!  That was not a good day.  If we could have 50% RH at 70F all the time, that'd be great, but is super unrealistic.  

Again, this is in a well HVAC'd building.  The "rules" can be applied to outside, but there are exceptions; all depends where you live and the time of year.  I'd bet there are trends wherever you live and always exceptions to the norms. Think a cold, damp basement and how you can also get chapped lips from cold, dry air.

Hope this makes sense! haha  I can go on and on if you want more info though!  

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