It is great to read how simple observations and even the most basic respect for
the wonders of nature and science can realize the cause / effect relationship of
problems. Simple observations are simple if you are there at the right place and
time or ask the right questions.

Now the question is, Do the ladies still turn down the a/c even though they know
what it does and bleach the walls every other week during August, or do they
sweat?  Just think how it might help people appreciate what they deal with today
compared to the past, if  when they walked into a colonial kitchen during the
summer, they saw dewy women dripping sweat on the fresh baked dinner rolls while
saying "Lordy its hot" and fanning their long slips and skirts trying to cool off.
The additional odors could all be part of the historic experience.

======

R Crawford wrote:

> A few years ago I did some consulting for 7 or 8 buildings at the Tryon
> Palace complex at New Bern, NC.  It didn't take long to figure out that the
> a/c was one of their biggest problems.  In one historic house the ladies (in
> long skirts over an open fire in the kitchen) would crank the temperature
> down to about 65 degrees.  Then they'd open the front door to visitors and 95
> degree 90 percent RH air which would rush in and up the front stairway.  As
> the air came in contact with the stair wall - the first cool surface it
> encountered - it would condense and end up as mildew.  They blamed it on
> school kids dirty hands, but a touch of bleach proved the point.
>
> We solved another long-time mystery for them, a re-occurring dark spot on a
> wall, by explaining that it had to be in front of an elbow in an a/c duct.
> The conditioned air hitting the duct and wall before changing directions
> cooled things enough for mildew there too.  Some detective work verified this.
>
> As an unfortunate, but amusing side note another consultant was doing some
> environmental monitoring there at the same time.  One of their devices was
> placed about ten feet from a top floor fireplace - whose 6 sq. ft. flue was
> wide open to the exterior.  Bet they wondered about the wild fluctuations in
> the readings.  Sometimes high-tech isn't as effective as it might be.
>
> Anyway, Bill Rose is the expert, but you may want to look at far less
> conditioning, broader swings in conditions, little or no insulation, and lots
> of ventilation.  Also, put a secure lock on the thermostat - maybe one of the
> super complicated programmable ones that no-one can figure out how to use.
> If the staff is sufficiently intimidated they may stay from it.  Good luck.