Humidifiers and dehumidifiers for museums and galleries

Q: How does humidification benefit art galleries and museums?

Humidification offers key benefits for art galleries and museums. It preserves artworks by preventing both drying and excessive moisture, reduces the risk of mold, protects exhibits and visitors, and creates a more stable and comfortable indoor environment for both collections and guests.

Q: What are the consequences of inadequate humidity control in art galleries and museums?

Improper humidity control in museums can cause materials to warp, crack, or develop mold, leading to irreversible and often permanent damage. Frequent humidity fluctuations accelerate deterioration, making stable and precise humidity control essential for preserving artworks, artifacts, and cultural collections.

Q: What should the relative humidity be inside an art gallery or museum?

The relative humidity in art galleries and museums will vary depending on the artworks and artifacts in the building. A relative humidity range of 40% to 60% is typically considered optimal.

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Benefits for museums

Museums have the task of preserving treasures of humanity and art. The countless, often unique and irreplaceable exhibits are worth billions of Euros and must therefore be permanently protected from any possible damage, especially from environmental influences.

Artifact protection

Prevents drying or over-hydration of exhibits, minimizing stress and cracks in sensitive materials.

Stable environment

Keeps relative humidity within tight margins to prevent material fatigue and deterioration.

Damage prevention

Protects paintings, textiles, paper, wood, and other hygroscopic materials.

Heritage, museums and galleries

Benefits Solutions Use Cases References FAQs

Climatic fluctuations

Seasonal and daily changes in temperature and relative humidity affect indoor environments, transferring external climate fluctuations directly into museum spaces. Sudden or frequent variations place stress on sensitive materials, causing warping, cracking, or surface damage. A responsive and reliable humidity control system minimizes these effects, stabilizes the indoor climate, and protects collections from long-term deterioration.

Excessively dry air

Excessively dry air extracts moisture from sensitive materials, causing shrinkage, warping, and stress in wood, paper, textiles, and paintings. Repeated exposure accelerates cracking, splitting, and pigment damage. Maintaining stable humidity prevents these effects, protects delicate collections, and preserves the structural integrity and appearance of objects over time.

Humidity control technologies

Humidity control in museums and galleries relies on technologies such as resistive steam humidifiers, mobile evaporative units, and condensing or desiccant dehumidifiers. These systems increase or reduce humidity levels as required, provide precise, responsive control, and can be adapted for centralized ducted air handling systems or in-room installations to protect collections and maintain stable indoor environments.

Use cases for museums

Prevent evaporative losses

Organic materials have an internal moisture content and will lose moisture to the atmosphere when exposed to air with low humidity. Humidifiers are used to create an environment with the proper balance between the material’s internal moisture content and the air’s relative humidity.

Managing humidity for long-term preservation

To protect and preserve materials, a stable environment is essential. This includes avoiding extremes of humidity and, more importantly, rapid fluctuations.

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Projects and references

Henry Moore Foundation, UK

Two Condair RS steam humidifiers have been installed, by Ceilite Air Conditioning, at the prestigious Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire. Henry Moore was a renowned artist, best known for his figure sculptures.

National Army Museum, UK

The National Army Museum is the leading authority on the British Army and its impact on society past and present. Condair has supplied and installed three Condair RS resistive steam humidifiers to maintain the humidity around the exhibits and archives.

Canadian Museum of History

The Canadian Museum of History is located in the Hull area of Gatineau, Quebec, directly across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The museum's primary purpose is to collect, study, preserve, and present material objects that illuminate the human history of Canada and the cultural diversity of its people.

Olaf Gulbransson Museum, Tegernsee

Werttvolle Exponate durch Luftbefeuchtung schützen Das Olaf Gulbransson Museum am Tegernsee ist eines von vier KarikaturMuseen in Europa. Ausstellungsschwerpunkt sind Exponate des Künstlers Olaf Gulbransson, der durch die legendäre Münchner Satire-Zeitung Simplicissimus berühmt wurde. Im Zuge der Neubau-Planung suchte das Museum auch nach neuen Klimalösungen: Für unsere empfindlichen Graphiken und Karikaturen ist eine konstante, relative Luftfeuchte von 55% erforderlich, um vor Rissen und Brüchen zu schützen, erklärt die wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin Sandra Wiedemann.

BMW Welt

BMW World is located in an important location in Munich between the BMW four-cylinder and the Olympic Park. It was opened in October 2007 and has since provided space for exhibitions, the delivery of new vehicles and events.The open design was developed by the architects Himmelb(l)au and is characterized by the striking double cone at the southern tip of the building. This has a diameter of 40 meters, is around 30 meters high andmade of 680 tons of steel. Condair DL hybrid humidifiers are used to provide visitors and employees with a pleasant and hygienic room climate.

Brandhost Museum, Munich - Germany

Munich‚the colourful Brandhorst Museum relies on Condair Dual hybrid humidifiers for precise, hygienic humidity control, protecting modern art in its iconic ceramic-louvre building.

German Historical Museum, Berlin - Germany

Berlin‚the German Historical Museum relies on Condair hybrid humidifiers for precise, hygienic humidity control, protecting exhibits in the historic Zeughaus and I.M. Pei‚the modern hall.

Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart - Germany

At the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Condair DL delivers precise, hygienic humidification to protect exhibits and ensure optimal indoor climate for visitors.

Porsche Museum, Zuffenhausen - Germany

Explore the Porsche Museum‚the floating architecture and exhibits. Condair steam humidifiers deliver precise humidity control to protect valuable collections.

Schloss Herrenchiemsee

Condair DL hybrid humidifiers provide precise, hygienic humidity control at Herrenchiemsee New Palace, supporting conservation and a stable indoor climate.

Schwerin Palace

Schwerin Palace is located on an island in the Schwerin city center, and is the city's most famous landmark. It is the largest and most opulent of the over 2,000 castles and manors in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Nestled among the scenic lakes around Schwerin, it was once the seat of the Mecklenburg dukes, and has also been home to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament since 1990. The castle as we know it today is the result of an extensive process of renovation and new construction from 1845 to 1857. The area around the castle includes a number of diverse, impressively designed gardens that were reconstructed or newly built for the Bundesgartenschau horticultural exhibition in 2009. Condair EL steam humidifiers ensure a pleasant indoor climate.

Paul Klee Museum, Bern, Switzerland

The Kunstmuseum, Zentrum Paul Klee, is located in Bern, Switzerland, in the immediate vicinity of the Schlosshalde cemetery, where Paul Klee™s grave can also be found. The building is dominated by curved arches that blend harmoniously into the surrounding hilly landscape. It houses the comprehensive work of the Paul Klee Foundation and reflects the artist™s complexity through the division into three hills. The North Hill is dedicated to practical art education, conferences, and workshops. The Central Hill is used for collection presentation and temporary exhibitions, the South Hill for research and administration. Condair™s DL hybrid air humidifiers create an optimum indoor climate for visitors and the sensitive works of art.

Foundation Michalski, Switzerland

An ideal work site for literature and literati - that was the vision that Vera and Jan Michalski wanted to achieve with the Maison d'ecriture. It is located at the foot of the Vaud Jura Mountains, in the Bois Ditsert in Montricher, with a view of Lake Geneva and the Alps. The site was chosen for its scenic beauty and the quiet surroundings that are supposed to have a positive effect on writers' activities and inspire them to reflect. This location has a very special appeal and a unique atmosphere. Architects V. Mangeat and P. Wahlen were tasked with designing the architecture of the object. They created several buildings for the foundation's numerous activities that fit perfectly into the surrounding nature and form a kind of settlement. Individual living spaces for authors, a dining room, a recreation room, a large library for research, a room with modular space for exhibitions and an auditorium for all kinds of events promise numerous encounters and brisk cultural exchange. Condair DL hybrid humidifiers ensure comfortable atmospheric humidity.

Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

The Rijksmuseum is one of the world's finest art museums with over 1.5km of galleries and artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh. The Condair DL hybrid humidifier is maintaining the ideal humidity for the preservation of paintings such as The Night Watch, The Milkmaid and The Merry Drinker.

ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus

The Aarhus Art Museum was founded in 1859. After several relocations, an architectural competition was held with the support of Queen Margrethe II for a new building, which was won by the Danish architectural firm Schmid, Hammer, and Lassen. The cube-shaped building, with a floor area of 52 by 52 meters and a height of 42 meters, has nine floors with 17,700 square meters of exhibition space, which is primarily dedicated to contemporary art.

The building is recognizable from afar thanks to the Your Rainbow Panorama, a circular walkway on the roof with a diameter of 52 meters that shines in all facets of the color spectrum. Hybrid humidifiers from Condair ensure comfortable room humidity and preserve the value of over 1,100 paintings, 400 sculptures, and installations.