Museums, Libraries and Archives

Humidity Control in Museums, Libraries, and Archives

In historic buildings, current air conditioning systems are not always able to maintain the atmosphere required for certain materials to be properly preserved.

For example:

Antiquarian books, taxidermy, dried plants, textiles, paper, paintings on canvas, scrolls, photographs, films, and wooden artifacts.
Also, valuable material susceptible to corrosion such as historical tools and machinery.

For more information contact our experts.

Humidification for the preservation of museum collections:

In museums, libraries and archives, long-term preservation of collections requires precise control of relative humidity. While excessive moisture can cause mould and corrosion, overly dry conditions can lead to cracking, deformation and irreversible damage in materials such as books, paper, textiles, wood, photographs and artworks.

Reliable, low-maintenance humidification systems help maintain stable humidity levels over time, reducing material stress and ensuring optimal conservation conditions without increasing operational complexity or maintenance requirements.

Learn more about these solutions in our detailed guide on low-maintenance humidifiers for preserving museum collections and artifacts.

Fresh air treatment and dehumidification

Dehumidifiers must be installed to dry any fresh air which enters the building, either by mechanical ventilation or infiltration.

This brings the following installation benefits:

Allows control of Relative Humidity regardless of outdoor weather conditions.
Upgrading can take place alongside the current installation with no need for shutdown.
The air flow to be treated does not correspond to the total volume of the AHU.
A compact and economical dehumidifier is sufficient to treat the small percentage of fresh air (between 5-15% of the total AHU volume).
A humidity sensor can be used to signal the dehumidifier when outdoor air conditions do not require drying, thus saving energy.

Benefits of Dehumidifiers for Museums, Libraries, and Archives:

Prevention or removal of mould that can appear on and damage certain organic materials such as books, flora and fauna, and textiles.
Avoid mould odours.
Avoiding the reappearance of some salts on the surface of taxidermy thereby reducing the need for repeated disinfection. Also protecting the surface of ancient metals, stopping bronze disease, for example.
Controlling moisture is a comfort factor used to treat visitor areas. In winter, low humidity can cause people to feel excessive cold.
Low RH prevents insects and the damage that they can cause. It also prevents condensation damage in the building.

Storage conditions:

*Table of recommended conditions for storing different materials: SOURCE RD 486/1997

Application References

The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain contains some of the most wonderful architectural design in the world. Its construction combines an excellent combination of Andalusian art adapted to the natural elements of the environment.

FISAIR DFRB series desiccant rotor air dehumidifiers are installed there to obtain the benefits described above.