Vinegar in a humidifier

Chris Stavroudis <cstavrou<-at->ix<.>netcom<.>com> writes

>Missy Sanares-Reyes <missycxr<-at->gmail<.>com> writes
>
>>    ... Some people in the USA recommend
>>    to put vinegar in the water.  For every gallon in the reservoir
>>    they recommend 170 ml or cc of vinegar.  This represents
>>    5%'vinegar solution by volume.  This will kill 99%'of bacteria
>>    and fungus.
>>
>>    My worry is that I have paintings in the room. ...
>
>I would not recommend using vinegar in the vaporizer.  Possibly not
>so good for the paintings.  It would likely contribute to corrosion
>of metal objects in the room.  But most likely it is not so good for
>the people in the room.  The room will constantly smell like vinegar
>which doesn't sound like a particularly good idea.
>
>I would recommend using store-bought distilled water in the
>humidifier.

I agree with the advice not to use vinegar in your humidifier.
Distilled water is perhaps the perfect answer but I have been using
RO (reverse osmosis) water in my humidifier for nearly five years
now.  This is one of those home under the counter units.  I have
absolutely no mold growth in my humidifier and absolutely no hard
water scale either.

The only modification that I have made is to install a second low
pressure water holding tank (both bought at Lowes hardware) to
double the holding capacity for use in winter months when the RH
here in the Southwest is practically in negative numbers.  Well, the
other modification I made was to capture the waster water from the
RO unit which usually goes down the drain and use it to water plants
and my garden (such as it is).

Mark MacKenzie
Chief Conservator, Dir.
Museums of New Mexico-Conservation,
Unit of Museum Resources Division,
725 Camino Lejo
Santa Fe NM
505-476-1242
Mobile: 505-231-6263


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 30:1
                   Distributed: Sunday, May 22, 2016
                        Message Id: cdl-30-1-003
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