is humidity an issue living in the UK as far as acoustics go

sunshinewelly

see a lot of stuff on some forums about humidifiers for acoustic guitars 

is that an issue in the UK

Brize

No.

sunshinewelly

good thats the answer i wanted to hear

Universal8

I asked the same question recently. Apparently we are in a bit of a sweet spot humidity wise in the uk.

mgaw

never bothered with any of that tbh, never had a problem

Jimbro66

Aren't humidifiers mainly for players living in hot dry regions? The only slight problem I've ever had is the opposite - living in a fairly humid climate which can make a nice acoustic sound a bit dead. I used to keep Zorb-IT packs in the case to help with that.

sev112

Middle,of summer and winter my acoustics are fine, but spring and autumn they seem to come alive and sing  

artiebear

A small caveat, beware of really aggressive central  heating in winter. Personally, being a touring acoustic player, I got over the whole perfect conditions thing, just keep it's case and allow time to acclimatise at the venue has been my mantra. As for home, I have bought a couple of lovely guitars that have been badly treated and needed some TLC. As an example, I bought a  s/h Bourgeois Soloist a few years ago, in the shop it sounded awful and the fret end were protruding enough to feel. The deal was good, I had an inkling that it "should" be a good guitar. It had basically been kept in a central heated dry environment. After restringing  etc, I left it out on a stand in a big room with doors open onto the garden in fairly showery summer weather. Within three weeks it was unrecognisable. The board had taken on moisture ( and oil ) , no fret end issues and a dead guitar was ( and is ) singing with huge sustain. The better the guitar, the higher the respect required.

ToneControl

yes

depends on your house and where you take the guitar

centrally heated dry houses can mess your guitar up, but are unlikely to destroy it. It just would be harder to play for 6 months every year (when the neck and top change shape), and go out of tune all the time
If you have air conditioning, that's a different game, and you should be much more concerned

If you really push it and often take a good acoustic in and out of hot rooms and cold cars you could well get some damage
I had a new acoustic with some corrugation (I think) from being stored on a stand in store that was heated only during opening hours

Lewy

Excess humidity can lead a good acoustic to not play or sound as good as it is capable of and there’s plenty of that in the UK

Whistler

Lewy said:

Excess humidity can lead a good acoustic to not play or sound as good as it is capable of and there’s plenty of that in the UK

Thanks, Lewy,, you have provided me with the perfect excuse: "Sorry, I just have really high humidity hands and that is what causes my playing to not sound as good as I am capable of."

CHRISB50

Lewy said:

Excess humidity can lead a good acoustic to not play or sound as good as it is capable of and there’s plenty of that in the UK

This. 

I had to get a dehumidifier to keep my house between 45-50%. 

I live next to a reservoir and it can get pretty humid. 70% was a regular reading on my hygrometers.

Some days my wife would turn the dehumidifier off. The humidity went up and it definitely affected tone. 

Strat_a_tat_tat

CHRISB50 said:

Some days my wife would turn the dehumidifier off. The humidity went up and it definitely affected tone. 

Wow... now that is true dedication to musical excellence!  Worrying about the tone of your dehumidifier.

You, sir, deserve to win the Internet.

CloudNine

Low humidity is the killer. And yes, quite possible to have very low humidity in a house with central heating blasting in winter. I have regularly seen extended periods, over many weeks in winter, where humidity never gets above 30% in the house. I would not leave an expensive, lightly built acoustic guitar sitting out in that environment. It may be fine, but might not be.

It always amazes me that people look at the typical outdoors humidity and think yeah that's ok, as mentioned above, 'UK is a sweet spot' etc etc. Unless you leave your guitars outdoors, you prob should start looking at what the humidity is inside your house, where the guitars actually are.

crunchman

CloudNine said:

Low humidity is the killer. And yes, quite possible to have very low humidity in a house with central heating blasting in winter. I have regularly seen extended periods, over many weeks in winter, where humidity never gets above 30% in the house. I would not leave an expensive, lightly built acoustic guitar sitting out in that environment. It may be fine, but might not be.

It always amazes me that people look at the typical outdoors humidity and think yeah that's ok, as mentioned above, 'UK is a sweet spot' etc etc. Unless you leave your guitars outdoors, you prob should start looking at what the humidity is inside your house, where the guitars actually are.

If you have your central heating on very high, then it may be an issue.  The relative humidity is dependent on the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors.  If it's 5C outside, and you cook yourself at 25C inside, then the relative humidity will be a lot lower than if you keep your house at 20C.

If you keep your heating at a sensible level (20 to 21C) then it's unlikely to be a problem in the UK, unless you are right up in Scotland.  You will also have more money to spend on nice guitars, as you won;t be spending it all on heating.

CloudNine

@crunchman I am indeed in Scotland, but would say heating at normal levels. You have used words like 'may' and 'unlikely',  but I am talking about facts, where using several different hygrometers to allow for inaccuracies, they are showing extended periods below 30% humidity.

The point still remains, and you have actually highlighted it quite nicely. The question of whether 'humidity is an issue within the UK' is actually moot, and it is the humidity in the environment where the guitars are kept, that needs to be considered.

sunshinewelly

Does leaving the guitar in a case help 

CloudNine

@sunshinewelly   Definitely mate. More consistent humidity, and shielded from the greater extremes.

crunchman

CloudNine said:

@crunchman I am indeed in Scotland, but would say heating at normal levels. You have used words like 'may' and 'unlikely',  but I am talking about facts, where using several different hygrometers to allow for inaccuracies, they are showing extended periods below 30% humidity.

The point still remains, and you have actually highlighted it quite nicely. The question of whether 'humidity is an issue within the UK' is actually moot, and it is the humidity in the environment where the guitars are kept, that needs to be considered.

Compared with the South, you are likely to be 5C colder outside in winter, may be more than that.   That 5C is enough to make a big difference to relative humidity.   If it's 30% in Scotland, then down here, it will be fine if you don't have your central heating high.

CloudNine

crunchman said

Compared with the South, you are likely to be 5C colder outside in winter, may be more than that.   That 5C is enough to make a big difference to relative humidity.   If it's 30% in Scotland, then down here, it will be fine if you don't have your central heating high.

Again, all kinds of assumptions. I think best advice is to just get a hygrometer and stop guessing what your indoor humidity might be based on what you think it is outside, as they are completely different things.   

drofluf

CloudNine said:

crunchman said

Compared with the South, you are likely to be 5C colder outside in winter, may be more than that.   That 5C is enough to make a big difference to relative humidity.   If it's 30% in Scotland, then down here, it will be fine if you don't have your central heating high.

Again, all kinds of assumptions. I think best advice is to just get a hygrometer and stop guessing what your indoor humidity might be based on what you think it is outside, as they are completely different things.   

Sensible advice especially as they’re so cheap relative to a guitar. 

Also ignore what the met office say; I’ve measured 20% difference in humidity between inside and outside.