Temperature adjustments when away from the shop

[mpholway]

I would like to hear some thoughts on something that I had not considered until my wife raised a question.

I live in Durham and drive for 80 minutes down to West End (near Pinehurst) almost every weekend.

We usually arrive in West End Thursday evening and depart Sunday around 6:00 PM.

At West End I have a dedicated shop with it own HVAC.

In the summer, I set the system to cool for 78 when I arrive and when I leave on Sunday, I change it to 84.

In the winter, I set the system to heat at 68 when I arrive and when I leave on Sunday, I change it to 60.

Are these reasonable ranges? They seem so to me but I would be very interested to hear what anyone else might do regarding climate control in their sporadically but intensely used shop.

Regards,

Matt

 

[Skymaster]

I have my shop with MINI SPLIT for me i set it at 72,on auto, which gives me whatever is needed to maintain that temp 12 months a year. Set it , forget it. Constantly changing temps is not doing yourself any favors imho. Remember it is NOT just air temp, everything in that shop has to get to the set temp, equipment,walls etc etc

 

[scsmith42]

Temperature is not as important in a woodworking shop as relative humidity, because that’s what impacts the MC% of lumber the most.

In the summertime, if your 84 degree shop stays below 55% RH or thereabouts, you should be fine. However if the RH% is significantly greater, consider installing a dehumidifier or turning the temp down lower to keep the RH% lower.

 

[ehpoole]

Temperature is not as important in a woodworking shop as relative humidity, because that’s what impacts the MC% of lumber the most.

In the summertime, if your 84 degree shop stays below 55% RH or thereabouts, you should be fine. However if the RH% is significantly greater, consider installing a dehumidifier or turning the temp down lower to keep the RH% lower.

Agreed, humidity changes have a far greater effect on woodworking than even dramatic changes in temperature — so long as those temperature swings do not lead to condensation (which, again, comes down to humdity). In my opinion, one of the most valuable tools in my shop is the dehumidifier as it maintains a stable relative humidity of around 45-50% year round, so wood thicknesses and lengths are remarkably stable year round. An added benefit is that of almost no rust formation on tools or cast iron surfaces since there is never any condensation formation on those surfaces during the many months of each year where I don’t have air conditioning or heat running because I’m not in the shop.

When I am in the shop I will heat or cool it to around 68°F so that I am more comfortable since I am very sensitive to temperature, but in between uses it is otherwise unconditioned save for the dehumidifier that is left on 24/7/365. The condensed water is then pumped up and out a nearby window using an external condensation pump (though some dehumidifiers do have pumps built in) so I don’t have to empty the collection bucket (which is very desirable as extreme humidity may fill the collection bucket multiple times in a day — especially in the first weeks after installation). Now that I have had a dehumidifier running for many years and the walls and concrete have all reached an equilibrium, the dehumidifier does not actually have to run all that much these days to maintain a stable humidity save for occasions when the garage door has been left open for a time on a humid day. I did weatherstrip the garage door and entry door as well as the attic door and sealed the area around my window AC unit as best I could to reduce outside air exchanges which also greatly reduces the work the dehumidifier needs to do. Now that everything has long since reached equilibrium it really does not cost very much to operate the dehumidifier since the compressor only cycles on for a short while a few times each day on average.

 

[gmakra]

Your good and your RH should remain steady as long as you don't have air infiltration.
If its a real concern there are wifi T stats that will give you the ability to change your temp and monitor both temp and RH.
However is a couple hundred for the stat but it gives you a very high "gee whiz factor"

 

[JohnW]

My shop is 560 sq ft and is well insulated. I use a 10K BTU window A/C and portable elec heater to keep it around 72 deg all year long. These small appliances keep an even temp but the humidity changes all the time. So I added a dehumidifier about 6 years ago. The A/C keeps humidity down during the summer, and the heater combined with lower outdoor humidity keeps humidity down in the winter. I have the dehumidifier set at 40% and during summer and winter it runs only occasionally. But during Spring and Fall seasons, the dehumidifier runs more often as the A/C and or heater are not on as much. Bottom line, I recommend getting a dehumidifier. It will benefit your wood and your tools. You will need to empty it when full of water, or plumb it to drain outside.

 

[Willemjm]

Excluding solid hard wood floors, I have always been able to get away with wood stored in an unconditioned environment. I design my builds for the extremity of wood movement between a range of 6% to 15%.

My theory has always been based on the fact that if I build a piece for example in Arizona and it is moved to the Gulf Coast in Florida, or it ships somewhere over the ocean in an unconditioned container, it should stand up to the different climatic changes.

Here in NC, typically my lumber is stored at around 11% moisture content and once it goes into a NC home it changes to between 6% to 8% depending on the season.

Typically, a table top 48" wide built as above will shrink by around 1/2" once placed in a home after a few months.

To the original poster, I switch my AC off if I won't be using the shop for a little.