bowserb wrote:
One minor caveat. I live in southeast Texas where humidity is always an issue. Indoors in A/C in summer, the RH might be 60%, even with the air temp set to 72 degrees. I have found one particular paper from Red River--the pre-scored greeting card stock--does not store well once the seal is opened. After just a few months, it takes on just enough of a curl on the edges that it is no longer suitable for borderless printing or sometimes even within half an inch from the leading edge. Only this style Red River paper and regardless of the finish (glossy, matte, textured). I mention that because that might be an issue with other thick papers in humid environments. Otherwise, I've had no problem with paper from 8.5x11 to 17x25 storing for a long time and still working well with an Epson 3880. I also have inkjet prints (Epson pigment inks) that have been hung on a wall for ten + years with no obvious fading, although they clearly had "out-gassing" for some time after framing, as we've removed some from their frames only to find a film on the inside of the glass. And those prints were aired for a week or more before framing.
Side note. In our old house we had two-speed A/C condensers and variable speed furnace fans. That setup had the ability to dehumidify well, getting summer humidity into the 45% range. New house has builder-grade A/C equipment, and we're back to humidity problems, so I'm looking into a whole house dehumidifier for the system (cheaper than replacing both condensers and both furnaces!)
One minor caveat. I live in southeast Texas where... (
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I do not understand how that is possible, because when any AC system cools the air it is no longer able to hold as much water as vapor so the humidity is reduced to whatever level of water vapor that the air can hold at the reduced temperature. What's more the condenser has noting to do with the moisture on the air, all it does is cool the liquid refrigerant and turn it back into a liquid. if anything would affect it, it would be the evaporator, but that is not how it works. It sounds to me like possible your system is bringing outside air into your home so rather than circulating the same air which would lower the relative humidity because it cools the air to a temperature that is lower than the room temperature so when it leaves the evaporator it has a lower humidity level that the air in the room is able to hold. I am not that familiar with residential AC systems, but in larger systems there is damper that that controls how much outside air is mixed with the inside air before it travels through the evaporator. You might want to check to see if your system has one and if it does it may stuck wide open. That's why it is called an air conditioner and not an air cooler. Is there any chance that you have a swamp cooler and not an air conditioner at all. Having variable speed fans would not have any effect on how much humidity is left in the air.