Bass gear in room with drying washing... Disaster waiting to happen?

[knirirr]

Under normal circumstances, when the weather's not good enough to dry outside, I have to share my practice room with drying clothes. A sufficiently large dehumidifier (as mentioned above) and a heated drying rack usually sort things out fairly quickly, and I've not noticed any problem with the bass gear.

[ubit]

Buy a dehumidifier and set it to 50 or 55. Any less than this and your electricity bill will go through the roof and you will feel as if your room is desiccated.

[ubit]

Wet laundry is the biggest cause of condensation ever. You should always try to not dry it indoors at all but obviously this isn't an option with a flat/British weather etc. The only other way is to control the condensation. We used to suffer from mould growing on our ceilings and behind beds etc. I bought a dehumidifier, it cured our problem but I had it set at 35%. Our electricity bill was sky high. I researched a bit and the Meaco is a low energy model but as I said set it just below the level for mould.

 

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/meaco12le/meaco-meaco12le-dehumidifier?refsource=apadcenters&mkwid=oDkqbeqN_dc&pcrid=74766916316735&product=MEACO12LE&pgrid=1196269017617318&ptaid=pla-4578366436448568&channel=bingsearch&msclkid=f762bff862ba12a048bee13a5dec9111&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping_aircon\dehumidifiers&utm_term=4578366436448568&utm_content=Shopping_aircon\dehumidifiers_MEACO12LE

[Phil Starr]

18 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Ah that's a nice side effect of preventing drying laundry moisture penetrating the wood fibres on our basses - we've got distilled water for irons to press the laundry with! 😊

I ended up going for this one which was just under £50 - are you saying Lidl and Aldi ones are better? Are they noisy?

I don't know Al, they all probably come out of the same factory in China. Mine have more controls so you can set fan speeds and the target humidity and they are more powerful, they routinely remove 2l of water a day and can do more if the air is really wet.

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I don't know Al, they all probably come out of the same factory in China. Mine have more controls so you can set fan speeds and the target humidity and they are more powerful, they routinely remove 2l of water a day and can do more if the air is really wet.

Ok thanks - yup far more powerful than the one I got which is 0.5l / day. But I guess there is a trade off with size, noise and cost.

UPDATE: The dehumidifier this one arrived this morning from Amazon. Not a great bit of kit - poor electrical connection which means it only intermittently works. Going back! 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Al Krow

[ClassicVibes]

22 hours ago, Nicko said:

Nice idea

 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64576818.html

Nearest Bargain Booze is 45 minutes away! Can't be having that. 

[dmccombe7]

I have a small digital Hygrometer that stays in living room most of the time. Typical readings are 45 - 55. Currently 47% and having sat there for ages without really looking at it i just noticed that lowest recorded was 34 and highest 72 but i've no idea when those readings were recorded. We did vax wash the living room carpet at one point last year but all the furniture was out for 2 days, can't remember where we put the hygrometer during that period.

On the OP's point i would think clothes drying at room temp over a day or two shouldn't have any major effect on your bass provided the room is ventilated as mentioned earlier. Do you leave the room door open and a window slightly open but secure when clothes are drying. Does the room suffer from any dampness issues ie small mould spots on ceiling above the clothes. If not i would reckon you should be ok.

Get a small digital hygrometer and see what you get before jumping in and buying expensive dehumidifiers. Other option is keep your basses in their cases till everything returns to normal 

[BassTractor]

To my mind there's a misunderstanding going on in this thread, but I'll be happy to be corrected in this:
Your cold drying room wall(s) introducing condensation and mold is not the same thing as your warm bass gear getting moist. That's why I said to keep the bass gear normally warm through keeping the room warm.
If you follow the measurements from your living room hygrometer, in many houses you'll see that the moisture range is enormous.

BTW, much of all my paperwork is in my bathroom (where there's space). Not a problem, but then I keep that room warm and ventilated 24/7/52.14.

[ubit]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Get a small digital hygrometer and see what you get before jumping in and buying expensive dehumidifiers

Thing is mate, if you are drying laundry indoors your moisture levels WILL be higher in the room. You don't need to measure it, its gonna happen if you dry wet clothes indoors. If you have guitars close by the constant change from damp to dry may affect them. A dehumidifier helps dry clothes as well as reducing the moisture content in a room, so you are getting two bangs for yer buck.

[ubit]

This guy has some good advice

 

https://www.fixmyroof.co.uk/videos-and-guides/condensation-cure/

[Bassfinger]

Don't risk it - throw dirty,clothes away and buy new ones.

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, ubit said:

Thing is mate, if you are drying laundry indoors your moisture levels WILL be higher in the room. You don't need to measure it, its gonna happen if you dry wet clothes indoors. If you have guitars close by the constant change from damp to dry may affect them. A dehumidifier helps dry clothes as well as reducing the moisture content in a room, so you are getting two bangs for yer buck.

The rate of change using a dehumid will be greater and may have more of an effect than a slow change.

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, ubit said:

This guy has some good advice

 

https://www.fixmyroof.co.uk/videos-and-guides/condensation-cure/

Some good stuff in there.

I like the idea of the automatic dehumidifiers with a variable set points to keep humidity under control. That would be the better option for me if i went down that route.

My house is generally warm and very rarely drops below 15 oC even with heating off and all window vents open. We use a pulley in our utility room and have used the hygrometer in there (more so out of curiosity when i bought it) and the readings didn't go thru the roof or even surprise me. They were higher than normal but not dramatically. It was a few yrs ago so i can't remember the exact readings now. As the guy mentions keeping the house warm and well ventilated OR buy a dehumidifier. I'm lucky and seem to manage with heat and ventilation. I don't see any sudden or rapid humidity changes.

Most modern washing machines will remove majority of water from clothes during a fast spin. Most of our clothes come out slightly damp rather than water dripping off them like the old days.

My main concern was the sudden changes in humidity rather than the levels of humidity. Not even sure if it makes a difference whether its sudden changes or slow changes ??? 

Dave

 

[ubit]

8 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

The rate of change using a dehumid will be greater and may have more of an effect than a slow change.

If you read the guys information you will see that

"Dehumidifiers not only dry the air, but produce warm air as a byproduct of operation, further offsetting the low cost of running."

Thus helping the room stay at a constant level of humidity. A good dehumidifier will get rid of excess moisture very quickly before it has a chance to affect objects. Leaving a room damp for ages with wet laundry cannot be good for guitars.

[Burns-bass]

We have a large Meaco dehumidifier for our place and it had been fantastic. 

They’re not the cheapest, but really help with my breathing as there’s a Hepa filter too as well as obviously removing moisture from the air and the build up of mould and condensation. Even though it was north of £200 it comes thoroughly recommended.  

[ubit]

49 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

We have a large Meaco dehumidifier for our place and it had been fantastic. 

They’re not the cheapest, but really help with my breathing as there’s a Hepa filter too as well as obviously removing moisture from the air and the build up of mould and condensation. Even though it was north of £200 it comes thoroughly recommended.  

We have a Meaco as well. Does a fantastic job of gathering moisture and dries clothes brilliantly!

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

We have a large Meaco dehumidifier for our place and it had been fantastic. 

They’re not the cheapest, but really help with my breathing as there’s a Hepa filter too as well as obviously removing moisture from the air and the build up of mould and condensation. Even though it was north of £200 it comes thoroughly recommended.  

 

1 hour ago, ubit said:

We have a Meaco as well. Does a fantastic job of gathering moisture and dries clothes brilliantly!

Out of curiosity do you keep it in the room where the laundry is drying or is it in centre of the house.

We have a utility room with an old fashioned pulley for drying clothes which is open to our kitchen. I'll put the hygrometer in there to see what readings i get.

To be honest clothes are never really wet coming out of our washing machine just a bit damp. Never had any issues with mould spots in the room or area. We keep the house at 19-20 oC thru day and very rarely drops below 15 oC at night even on coldest winter nights. All window vents are kept open. 

Humidity in our house is sitting at 49% today. 

Dave

  

[ubit]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Out of curiosity do you keep it in the room where the laundry is drying or is it in centre of the house.

We have it in our hall. Thats where we also dry laundry when we can't hang it out. It's the central part of the house but it's the bedrooms that get the worst condensation. When you think about it, the kitchen should be the worst what with the washing machine door being opened , dishwasher door being opened and pots and kettles boiling but it's not. It must be because we ventilate the kitchen all the time whether with a window open or the door open. If you read that guys info, an average person exhales 4 cups of water in their breath every day, so it's no wonder that two people in a bedroom with windows shut will cause condensation plus the laundry on top of that. We keep our bedroom door open during the day to allow the Meaco to get to the air in there but her son and girlfriend have their door closed all the time and he is complaining about mould. He has bought anti mould  paint and is going to paint the room. I keep saying open the door and allow air to circulate but he never listens.

With the Meaco it is controlled and the mould has never gotten any worse throughout the rest of the house.

Edited May 19, 2020 by ubit
Said litres instead of cups...doh!

[ubit]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

o be honest clothes are never really wet coming out of our washing machine just a bit damp.

Yeah, we always spin the clothes after the final cycle and they come out just damp but yesterday her son took our washing out to put his in, left ours in a heap in the basket soaking wet and by the time I spotted it, his was in a cycle so I had to hang it up dripping wet.☹️

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

Yeah, we always spin the clothes after the final cycle and they come out just damp but yesterday her son took our washing out to put his in, left ours in a heap in the basket soaking wet and by the time I spotted it, his was in a cycle so I had to hang it up dripping wet.☹️

Have you tried a swift kick in the rear or a remedial slap to his cheek. 

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

We have it in our hall. Thats where we also dry laundry when we can't hang it out. It's the central part of the house but it's the bedrooms that get the worst condensation. When you think about it, the kitchen should be the worst what with the washing machine door being opened , dishwasher door being opened and pots and kettles boiling but it's not. It must be because we ventilate the kitchen all the time whether with a window open or the door open. If you read that guys info, an average person exhales 4 litres of water in their breath every day, so it's no wonder that two people in a bedroom with windows shut will cause condensation plus the laundry on top of that. We keep our bedroom door open during the day to allow the Meaco to get to the air in there but her son and girlfriend have their door closed all the time and he is complaining about mould. He has bought anti mould  paint and is going to paint the room. I keep saying open the door and allow air to circulate but he never listens.

With the Meaco it is controlled and the mould has never gotten any worse throughout the rest of the house.

Snap us too. We had awful problems in my daughters bedroom with damp until my friend recommended this one. He told me not to bother with a cheap one.

We have a big terraced house (4 beds, loft conversion, big extension etc) and this works to reduce moisture from all rooms in the house - including the kitchen. The smaller units are apparently just as good.

My wife did once put the unit in our study (where the basses live) but it only works by reducing the moisture level to what you’d consider normal, so didn’t damage them at all.

[Jakester]

I have an outbuilding, which is what sold me on our house when we bought it - I intended to use it as a studio and store all my musical equipment in there. Unfortunately it transpired it suffered catastrophic damp problems and rapidly damaged a lot of gear (lots of mould/mildew, finish cracking etc etc) and knackered a load of music books etc. 

We eventually got the money together to get it tanked, and once it had all dried out, put everything back in again. 

Only to find it damp inside again. Mould all up the walls, some cheap MDF Ikea bookshelves warped in a couple of months. 

It's only single glazed, and there's a big gap under the door, so airflow isn't an issue. However, it just wasn't ever getting dry enough inside. 

In the end, I purchased a dehumidifier off eBay. Since then it's been great - started out around 85% humidity, but running it on a constant has dropped that down to 60% and no further problems. The model I bought can be set to cut off when it reaches the target humidity and I've fitted a permanent drainage tube so if I don't go out there for a few days, it keeps working. 

It's one of these, if anyone is interested: https://www.screwfix.com/p/blyss-wdh-316db-16ltr-dehumidifier/368gy

I paid about half that as it was used, but I'd say for the use I put it to, it'd be worth paying full price for another. 

 

[ubit]

3 hours ago, ubit said:

I keep saying open the door and allow air to circulate but he never listens.

 

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Have you tried a swift kick in the rear or a remedial slap to his cheek. 

If you read my other thread about how much is fair to charge for rent you will know only too well the challenges I am having with him.