Happy New Year! What will 2022 hold for us I wonder? For me there will certainly be more microscopes and plenty of lacquer. By the end of the year I should have completed my MA in preventive conservation too. I have been doing my MA part time and the first year went very well, my grades were good and I enjoyed it. I know more about relative humidity and antique conservation than I ever wanted to know and I am currently obsessing over the relative humidity in my workshop.
When the workshop was first built it had a few small leaks, the relative humidity was too high and mould developed around the edges of the room. I started monitoring the temperature and relative humidty and I bought a small dehumidifier which helped a great deal. Recently my dehumidifer broke down so I have a new one (a Meaco DD8L) which is much more energy efficient and generally more snazzy. Rather than running constantly like my old one did, it takes a sample of the air every 30 minutes and turns on if necessary saving a great deal of electricity. It certainly does what it says. You can see the humidity gradually increase and then drop again as the machine switches on. My humidity sensor is reading about 5% too low, but you get the idea.
Such things bring me joy!
