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I have a basement shop and in the winter its gets really dry . What level of humidity should I try to maintain. In the summer it gets to 65% humidity and 65 degrees ,but in the winter its around 65 degrees with 20% humidity.
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Ideal is whatever the RH is upstairs if that's where your cabinets and furniture are destined. So if you have no humidifier upstairs and the RH up there in the winter goes down as low as your basement then I wouldn't do anything. A difference in temperature between upstairs and down is nearly irrelevant, but one in RH will require more thought during the build to avoid drawers and doors that bind or have gaps that are too large, expansion/shrinkage cracks, etc.
John
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mike9 said:
I have a basement shop and in the winter its gets really dry . What level of humidity should I try to maintain. In the summer it gets to 65% humidity and 65 degrees ,but in the winter its around 65 degrees with 20% humidity.
Try and get the whole place up around 40-45% for the sake of your health. There will always be fluctuations, but the reason we put finishes on things and build them with room for movement is to keep them from being bothered by a month or two of high/low humidity.
Take care of you, the wood will do just fine. The 65% - 20% RH translates to 12% and 4% MC at 20C/68F. 45% would be the elusive 8% so often mentioned as ideal. In reality, the raw wood will take a couple months of static RH to approach the extremes, so until February, here, wood won't hit 4% in the unhumidified area. Your mucousa will dry out MUCH faster.
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
