Weird Humidity Issue ... ???

[Guitar Cowboy]

I'm looking for some advice here. I store my Taylors in one of our guest bedrooms on the second floor of our house. Until recently I did not have a room humidifier. I just relied on the case humidification systems which for me happen to be Humidipaks plus barely wet sponges in travel soap dishes when it gets really bad.  My guitars stay in their cases when I am not playing and I really don't think that bringing them out into a low humidity room for a couple hours (or maybe even longer) has any negative effect. ... as long as they go back into their cases when I am done.

Having said that, I recently purchased a room humidifier. It’s just a small one that can handle up to 200 sq. ft. It did its job and brought my "music room" humidity up to 45% in about two days. Shortly after that (like only a day) my wife noted that the flames on our kitchen stove (1st floor) were orange instead of blue. I live in the country and my house uses propane rather than natural gas.  I also checked the pilot light on the basement water heater and it too was orange rather than its normal blue.  Not realizing there could be any connection between the small room humidifier and the color of the propane flames, I called the propane company and asked them about it. The first thing they asked was if I recently got a humidifier? I said yes, but that it was not a whole house humidifier but rather a small room humidifier nowhere near the stove. He suggested turning off the humidifier and checking if the flames go back to blue in a day or so. Guess what? They did.  Over the next week, I tested it two more times including the last time where I put bath towels at the bottoms of the doors to keep the more humid air in. … Same result. The propane flames changing color was caused by my new room humidifier.

The problem is that the orange flame means incomplete combustion and I that’s not something you want to have in your house.

Now it’s looking like I need to return the humidifier and go back to my case only humidifying systems.

I was just wondering if anyone else who may also live out in the country where you have to rely on propane instead of natural gas may have experienced this.

Thanks. Sorry that was a long one.

Steve

[TaylorGirl]

We live in the country, use propane, and have used whole home humidifiers for nearly 30 years. We use 3, one for each floor. Ours are larger humidifiers than I think you are referring to. They have never been the cause of a problem like that. We even have a heater in the garage with a flame, and with all the humidity in a garage (rain, snow, etc.), it burns perfectly. I really don't think humidity in a house would be the culprit. Humidity is really necessary for the house and the people inside too.

We did have a problem with the pressure regulator outside, the water heater was not burning properly (orange flame which caused sooting). The propane company offered to come out test the pressure regulator on the outside of the house. It needed adjustment (it was low) and it fixed the problem. They did it free of charge. They also checked the all appliances inside the house and adjusted them to the proper pressure. They had all been set originally, but still needed readjustment. They recently came out and did the same thing at our sugar house (where we produce maple syrup). It needed it (even after an initial adjustment). When we are boiling sap in the sugar house, it is very humid, yet our gas stove works perfectly in there (when the pressures are proper). Maybe that is where your should do some checking first. Hope this helps.

[Guitar Cowboy]

Thanks. The gas company did suggest the  regulator may need to be  adjusted  but also suggested that I check the humidifier first. It makes no sense to me either  as the humidity down in the kitchen is way lower than it would be in the spring/ summer. Nevertheless: humidifier on - orange flames . humidifier off- blue flames... tested several  times ?? Weird. Maybe its a combination of the two. If the regulator is low , maybe its allowing this to happen whereas if I get it adjusted to whatever the proper setting is , maybe we wont see the changes with variable humidity. So yes,  the next step is to get the regulator checked. Thanks.