TACK ROOM HUMIDITY

[Nbairnsfather]

I am tired of fighting the mold and mildew in my tack room, so I broke down and purchased a dehumidifier. It works great, but I am not certain what the optimum humidity setting would be to keep the mold and mildew away but not dry out my leather. Help!

[vbunny]

I can't say exactly but what I'd do is just keep an eye on the leather. If it looks dry, condition it and turn the humidifier down some. I doubt it will work well enough to really dry it out if you are somewhere humid.

[rodawn]

I agree, it's much easier and less expensive to condition the leather more often with leather conditioner, than it is to have it it rot away and need repairs. Set the dehumidifier to the same level you would for a new house. You could also get a roof fan to keep the air moving which should help some too.

[Blacktree]

I can't say exactly but what I'd do is just keep an eye on the leather. If it looks dry, condition it and turn the humidifier down some. I doubt it will work well enough to really dry it out if you are somewhere humid.

We have one in our tack room during the winter, and this is how we adjust it. It works great and also keeps it a bit warmer in there - added bonus!

[equusvilla]

There is no specific answer to your question because tack rooms are usually failry open...IOW - if the humidity is high outside that day - it is going to be higher inside the tack room and vice versa. Also depends where you live and what type of tack room you have. Wood absorbs moisture - metal can create it.

In our last house, my metal barn had a huge tack/feed room and I was so thrilled when we built it. I hauled all my tack out there and bought every kind of hook and hanger for every piece of equipment. In less than a month - most of my stuff was covered in green fuzz! I hauled all my stuff back into the house! We tried lots of things and NOTHING worked...but then again - we live in South Texas where it is VERY humid most of the time and since my tack room had metal walls, when the temp swayed, it could be more humid inside the tack room than out!

When we built our current barn, we just built a climate controlled room for the tack.

Sorry this was so long and I hope you find your happy medium!

[deltawave]

I keep mine at about a "4" on the 1-10 dial, if that helps. :) I would even go to a 5, but if I do that it kicks off more heat than I like to put up with in the summer. In the winter the space heater keeps things dry enough that I don't have to run the dehumidifier.

[Equibrit]

My barn is in a hot, humid, moldy, climate. I found that lining the tack room with untreated pine tongue and groove solved the problem. I own a dehumidifier but don't need to use it.