> From: charlene martin <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Subject: Northeast folks: venting heat into HVAC archival storage room environment?
> 
> 
> I am working with a building manager that is new to servicing an archives.
> The heat came on in the whole building today because it's October (winter
> season) in NY. I am on a mixed-used floor, in a mixed use building envelope.
> 
> Should I be having heat vented into this room at all? I thought that the
> HVAC took care of that? If I should, should I only have enough vented into
> the room for my HVAC to maintain it at winter settings of 30% RH and 60
> degrees?
> 
> Thank you for your patience with me!
> 
> Charlene Martin/archivist
> Sisters of St Francis of the Neumann Communities
> Syracuse NY


It really doesn’t matter where you are in the country, as Stephen replied “Stability and Consistency should be the goal.”

If your archive is worth preserving; and believe me, that is really only question that matters to the Board of Directors over the long haul, then you must take certain precautions.

An archive should have a proprietary system to control the temperature and humidity as well as the air flow.  Even if you lived in some wonderful place where the temperature and humidity never changed, you still need to cycle the air into the archive 3 to 5 times an hour.  So you need the ability to control the fans.

What is ideal for office workers is not the same as what your archive requires…..  And your archive would require different environmental conditions depending on what it consists of??  Is it film, microfilm,and computer media?  Or is it paper documents?  Does it contain photographs and film negatives?

An archive should have a proprietary HVAC System which can control temperature and humidity and be able to circulate air at a specified rate.

So the next step is to figure out how valuable is your collection?  How valued is that collection by your Board and advisors?

With an organization like Sisters of St Francis of the Neumann Communities, there might be a benefactor that would donate the stand alone HVAC System that would ideally preserve your collection.

In Syracuse, you will have low humidities like 20% to 25% in winter and high humidities in summer. No archive can maintain 30% RH unless you use a dedicated desiccant dehumidifier ( Munters Cargocaire Desiccant Dehumidifier)  in summer and in winter you would need to add moisture to go up to 30% on frigid dry days.  A closed loop system unique to the archive is the answer.

I saw an amazing duct system on four vaults in the Midwest. (Okay, I will grant you that most of you would not have paid any attention;  but I do have a sickness about the ideal storage of priceless collections.)  

The ductwork was a flexible system with these little ovals ever 18” along the flexible duct length.  The HVAC fan was oversized to keep this duct inflated and the air flowed aggressively out of these 1” x 3” vents so the air was delivered whisper soft in every corner of the vault and the air mixture was extremely good.  There were no dead spots like you see in many archives. ( McGill AirFlow Uni-FAB Ductwork)

I wish I could add a photo as this cloth duct hung off a wire support and sections could be unzipped and that means you could remove it, run it through a washing cycle and dry it and re-suspend it. So mold, mildew, dust could not build up in the duct. Talk about a clean archive.

I wonder if it could be washed in an anti-mold cleanser as an even better solution.

As Phil Dunphy says on Modern Family  “Okay I heard it there! I am obsessing.”

Charlene if I can be of any assistance let me know. As a “Class of 67” Central Catholic Crusader it would be a pleasure.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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