North American Network Operators Group
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Re: Humidity ranges?

  • From: Richard Parker
  • Date: Mon Aug 04 16:51:01 2003 
For a datacenter with a single controlled area the ideal range for relative
humidity (RH) is in the neighborhood of 35% to 50%.

Here are some data points:

  1)  Static electricity is minimized when RH is at or above 35%.

  2)  RH below 25% can cause embrittlement of hygroscopic materials
      such as paper.

  3)  RH above 65% can cause mold growth and metal corrosion.

  4)  Humans are most comfortable when the RH is between 20% and 60%.

  5)  RH above 50% in cold weather can cause condensation inside of
      outer�walls (or on equipment itself if the facility has an
      external door or window that opens directly into the controlled
      area).  

Sean Donelan wrote an informative post on a related subject a few year back:

  <http://www.cctec.com/maillists/nanog/historical/9810/msg00276.html>

-Richard