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Subject:
From:
R Crawford <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
BP - "Preservationists shouldn't be neat freaks." -- Mary D
Date:
Wed, 16 Aug 2000 21:09:22 EDT
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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.

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