The Paradoxical Importance of Humidity

[Dorifto]

i find the graph a little confusing to be honest, not in the sense of relative humidity but when it comes to how much moisture to add to your enclosure

personally i add water to the substrate to counteract evaporation, not so much to increase relative humidity in the air

The blue circle is 100 RH at 10°C or 50°F, the next ones are an example of how the same amount of water, grams, but at different temperatures affect the RH percentages.

So what at 10°C/50°F means 100% RH, the same amount of water in the air means 53% of RH at 20°C/68°F and 28% at 30°C/86°F. So the blue circle means the same amount of water, and the yellow how much it should be to be 100% at each temp.

So a 50% RH at 30/86° cointains much more water than 50% RH at 20/68°.

 

[Wolfram1]

The blue circle is 100 RH at 10°C or 50°F, the next ones are an example of how the same amount of water, grams, but at different temperatures affect the RH percentages.

So what at 10°C/50°F means 100% RH, the same amount of water in the air means 53% of RH at 20°C/68°F and 28% at 30°C/86°F. So the blue circle means the same amount of water, and the yellow how much it should be to be 100% at each temp.

So a 50% RH at 30/86° cointains much water than 50% RH at 20/68°.

i get that but i know how moist i want my sub to be and once it dried i add more water, relative humidity is allowed to fluctuate based on temperature all it wants becuse i never add so much it gets a problem at higher temps

edit: im not saying you are wrong at all or that its a confusing topic per-se but it doesn't tell me anything about how much water/moisture to add.

 

[cold blood]

I’m slightly confused too @Dorifto

In the UK it’s very wet and quite green. In summer, the hotter it gets the more humid it gets and I actually find myself sweating - and it’s sometimes even difficult to breathe easily (I’m not asthmatic) - at temps as low as 27-30C. It’s not like the very dry heat I felt in Spain, which was very comfortable - notwithstanding any sunburn issues - even at much higher temperatures. This is why non-UK people often laugh when people in the UK think it’s hot, until they experience it for themselves. As I type this, I’m sat in my room bare-chested, with sweat starting to bead on my chest and back at just 25C.

The cooler it is the less humid it feels. What am I missing? Is it absolute humidity versus the relative humidity?

Warmer air has the capability to hold and retain more moisture...very cold winter air is typically very dry

 

[Frogdaddy]

I’m slightly confused too @Dorifto

In the UK it’s very wet and quite green. In summer, the hotter it gets the more humid it gets (or do I mean feels?) and I actually find myself sweating - and it’s sometimes even difficult to breathe easily (I’m not asthmatic) - at temps as low as 27-30C. It’s not like the very dry heat I felt in Spain, which was very comfortable - notwithstanding any sunburn issues - even at much higher temperatures. This is why non-UK people often laugh when people in the UK think it’s hot, until they experience it for themselves. As I type this, I’m sat in my room bare-chested, with sweat starting to bead on my chest and back at just 25C.

The cooler it is the less humid it feels. What am I missing? Is it absolute humidity versus the relative humidity?

Cooler air cannot hold as much moisture as warmer air.
You can see this very easily in winter. When the temperature is near the freezing mark and it snows it may be a wet, heavy snow, perfect for making snowballs and snowmen.
However if the temperature drops just a few degrees the colder air can't hold as much moisture and you may get a very light, powdery, dusty kind of snow.

 

[Wolfram1]

Warmer air has the capability to hold and retain more moisture...very cold winter air is typically very dry

exactly, that's why i am actually much more worried about them drying up in colder temperatures but still water them less because evaporation is also reduced

and more worried about too much moisture during warmer months because the air can hold more edit: so i add less but more frequently

 

[Dorifto]

I’m slightly confused too @Dorifto

In the UK it’s very wet and quite green. In summer, the hotter it gets the more humid it gets and I actually find myself sweating - and it’s sometimes even difficult to breathe easily (I’m not asthmatic) - at temps as low as 27-30C. It’s not like the very dry heat I felt in Spain, which was very comfortable - notwithstanding any sunburn issues - even at much higher temperatures. This is why non-UK people often laugh when people in the UK think it’s hot, until they experience it for themselves. As I type this, I’m sat in my room bare-chested, with sweat beading on my chest and back at just 25C.

The cooler it is the less humid it feels. What am I missing? Is it absolute humidity versus the relative humidity?

Where I live, basque country is pretty humid and 36°C feels way hotter than the 42°C of the south, but that's because how we transpire, the less RH the higher moisture takes from us, so we transpire better thus controlling better our temp and feeling more cooler. The higher the RH, the harder evaporates our sweat.

i get that but i know how moist i want my sub to be and once it dried i add more water, relative humidity is allowed to fluctuate based on temperature all it wants becuse i never add so much it gets a problem at higher temps

It's not the amount, but the frequency. You don't want a swamp because you live in a dry enviroment. You should keep it moist, like anywhere else, but keeping in mind that this substrate will dry faster in a drier enviroment than in a humid one, both at the same temp.

So that's why keeping some species bone dry, can be dangerous in certain climates if you don't provide the needed moisture frequently enough.

 

[Frogdaddy]

exactly, that's why i am actually much more worried about them drying up in colder temperatures but still water them less because evaporation is also reduced

and more worried about too much moisture during warmer months because the air can hold more

Evaporation from the substrate is actually increased during the cold winter months.
Nature wants to equalize everything. The water in your sub will evaporate much quicker in the dry air as the seeks to become balanced. The drier the ambient air the quicker your sub will dry out.

 

[Wolfram1]

It's not the amount, but the frequency. You don't want a swamp because you live in a dry enviroment. You should keep it moist, like anywhere else, but keeping in mind that this substrate will dry faster in a drier enviroment than in a humid one, both at the same temp.

So that's why keeping some species bone dry, can be dangerous in certain climates if you don't provide the needed moisture frequently enough.

this i 100% agree with

Evaporation from the substrate is actually increased during the cold winter months.
Nature wants to equalize everything. The water in your sub will evaporate much quicker in the dry air as the seeks to become balanced. The drier the ambient air the quicker your sub will dry out.

i have not found that to be the case for me but i will be extra vigilant about this this winter

 

[Arachnid Addicted]

Sorry, but I'll have to say it again...

SEMANTICS.

And if any of you disagree that moist, damp, etc., isn't a synonym of humidity (and please, prove it) then, there's nothing I can do.

Cheers.

 

[Dorifto]

Sorry, but I'll have to say it again...

SEMANTICS.

And if any of you disagree that moist, damp, etc., isn't a synonym of humidity (and please, prove it) then, there's nothing I can do.

Cheers.

Yes is semantics boludo

For people like us that speak spanish, humid is something that has moisture on it, from clothes to the air. For them, humidity is the moisture in the air. For other things where we use the word humid, they use moist, damp and wet to describe different values or amounts of water present on it.

Humidity is a confusing topic for many, you are not alone, which is

So why not to make it less confusing and more simple to understand than saying that it doesn't matter? Saying that you could put them in a very bad scenario depending on their enviroment and skill levels.

It's as simple as understanding that at low RH the ambient air will take enclosure's moisture much faster than the same enclosure at higher RH, both at the same temps. This is very simple to understand, and explaining this instead of telling people that the humidity is irrelevant because it could be "confusing", could offer to people better ways to keep them safer.

So low RH= more frequent spritz/moisting
High RH= les frequency.

Keeping in mind that the temp and the ventilation also affects to the frequency.

Yep, that's all you need to do...when the sub dries, add water.

100% Agree

And just for that is helpful to understand this. Because once you know your contitions, you have a better idea about how to keep them properly, and after choosing your routine, the enclosure will do the rest for you, so there is no needs of special tools etc, only misting, more or less frequently.

If not, the common advice for avics like the best example of keep them dry with a water dish could lead to new keepers in very difficult situations, where their Ts could suffer severe dehydration quickly.

 

[Dorifto]

I'll post here with your permission @l4nsky and with Dave hinself permission too!