Heating or Dehumidification? Maintaining Appropriate Relative Humidity Levels in Historic Buildings Containing Museum Collections

ABSTRACT

Collections care in temperate zones of the world, including Scotland, is generally well served by a system of heating control known as conservation heating or humidistat-controlled heating. This system adjusts temperature in a building in order to maintain relative humidity at desired levels. An alternative control method is through the use of dehumidification, although airtightness of the building influences the effectiveness of this. This paper assesses three sites where these methods of control have been used: the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle, Abbots House at Arbroath Abbey in eastern Scotland and Skelmorlie Aisle in western Scotland. The benefits of each system are discussed, together with consideration of the effect of climate change on the efficacy of each.

KEYWORDS:

• Relative humidity
• environmental monitoring
• preventive conservation
• collections care
• climate change
• conservation heating
• dehumidification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.