Dehumidifiers

Elizabeth Branigan <elizabeth.branigan [at] durham__ac__uk> writes

>I was wondering what experience conservators in museums and
>galleries had of using portable dehumidifiers to assist in the
>control of the relative humidity in galleries and whether anyone
>could recommend a particular make, that has an adjustable
>humidistat. They are needed for a room of 550 cubic metres, and they
>would also need to be reasonably quiet. The display cases are
>controlled passively with Prosorb.

We recently bought three new dehumidifiers for our site.  Tryon
Palace is located in Eastern North Carolina which is known for its
very wet/humid environment.  Earlier in the summer the air
conditioning systems in three buildings decided to stop working.
Later in July and August we have had rain almost daily. Two of our
historic houses have basements that flood every time there is
significant rain and our other sites have other water leaks.  We
also have damage from Hurricane Irene which hit this region hard
last year.

We already had two dehumidifiers from Sears from the 1980s that
collect 40 pints of water and can be noisy.   A couple of months ago
I bought three Danby Premiere DDR45E (45 pints) for under $600.  So
far they work great.  I have them spread out across the different
buildings so they can be pulled wherever they are needed. They are
small enough for one person to carry in a building alone.  They have
a digital readout of current temperature and humidity in the room,
plus desired humidity which the operator can set.  There are two fan
speeds and despite what the instructions say, the fan turns off when
the unit is full.  It is much quieter than our older units and not
as noticeable in the historic houses during tours.  As always be
sure to read reviews on-line before purchasing.

Richard Baker
Conservation Specialist
252-639-3542
Main: 252-639-3500
PO Box 1007
New Bern NC 28563
or
610 Pollock St.
New Bern NC 28562


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:16
                Distributed: Saturday, September 8, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-16-003
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