Richard Ashton, General Manager for Opera North at the Howard Assembly Room, explained his concern: “The preservation of our musicians’ instruments, as well as the wooden décor, within the hall requires a humidification level of around 50%RH. Precious instruments can be damaged if they are exposed to extremes of humidity and especially if they are allowed to dry out. The orchestra spends over 20 hours a week rehearsing and performing here, so it was essential to provide a consistent level of humidity during the times when they use the space.

“After meeting with Condair, we felt confident that the company understood our specialised requirement, not just the level of humidity, but also the need for reliability, flexibility and cost effectiveness. Since installing humidification, which we switch on as and when required, our musicians have felt much more at ease regarding the safety and performance of their instruments.”

The Condair electrode boiler steam humidifier delivers steam to an AHU or directly to a room’s atmosphere. All steam humidifiers require occasional servicing to remove limescale that builds up during operation. The Condair steam humidifier makes servicing quick and easy as the boiling cylinder is disposable. When servicing is required the cylinder is simply drained, removed and replaced with another, keeping downtime to a minimum.

The humidifier incorporates innovative features such as water conductivity monitoring and staged electrode use to maximise the lifetime of the cylinder. It is available in size from 5-90kg/hr and can operate with standard mains water.