Preserving books against mold?

On May 25, 11:43 pm, "Shane" <millersb....TakeThisOut@nope.lol> wrote:
> "Alan Meyer" <amey....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:g1cnk0$sgs$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>
> > I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
> > house that gets too humid in the summer time.  The books
> > can get moldy.
>
> Bleach is supposed to kill mold and someone once posted that spraying books
> with a fine mist of bleach protects them, but I haven't tried that one
> myself.

Fire kills mold too, why not set your books on fire?
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

> I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
> can get moldy.
>
> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
> damage books), etc.?

A dehumidifier shouldn't cost much to run. Have you checked its
power consumption, or the power consumption of the smallest one
that will do the job?

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
>> I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
>> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
>> can get moldy.
>>
>> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
>> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
>> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
>> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
>> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
>> damage books), etc.?
>
> A dehumidifier shouldn't cost much to run. Have you checked its
> power consumption, or the power consumption of the smallest one
> that will do the job?
>
> ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
> Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
> CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts


Air conditioning removes moisture as well as cooling the
space. Air conditioning can be made less expensive with a
heat pump. Air to air systems work well in the southern US.
In the north, a ground water sourced heat pump (which
pulverizes costs for both heating and cooling) or closed
loop heat pump is the way to go. My SEER efficiency is in
the range of 25+.

High Efficiency (SEER 16 to 23) air conditioners (not heat
pumps) cost about $3,500, but run with much reduced costs.

And you will feel better too.


Francis A. Miniter
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

"Francis A. Miniter" <faminiter.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:T4Gdnel-tvaIaKTVnZ2dnUVZ_gGdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
>>> I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
>>> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
>>> can get moldy.
>>>
>>> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
>>> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
>>> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
>>> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
>>> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
>>> damage books), etc.?
>>
>> A dehumidifier shouldn't cost much to run. Have you checked its
>> power consumption, or the power consumption of the smallest one
>> that will do the job?
>>
>> ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k ===
>> <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
>> Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob
>> 07800 739 557
>> CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac
>> logic fonts
>
>
> Air conditioning removes moisture as well as cooling the space. Air
> conditioning can be made less expensive with a heat pump. Air to air
> systems work well in the southern US. In the north, a ground water
> sourced heat pump (which pulverizes costs for both heating and
> cooling) or closed loop heat pump is the way to go. My SEER
> efficiency is in the range of 25+.
>
> High Efficiency (SEER 16 to 23) air conditioners (not heat pumps) cost
> about $3,500, but run with much reduced costs.
>
> And you will feel better too.
>
>
> Francis A. Miniter

Thank you for the replies.

The current rate for electricity in my area (Baltimore Maryland) is 11.4
cents per kilowatt hour. That works out to about $82/ month for an
appliance
that uses 1000 watts.

It appears that a small dehumidifier may use about 840 watts. If it
runs
about half the time, that works out to 420 watts average or about 34.50
per month. Over a five month period, that's about $172. I think that,
in
fact, the rates may be a bit higher because there are other charges
tacked on to the base rate for electricity.

A ground water heat pump is a great idea. It would also save me
money on heating in the winter, since all I have is an air heat pump,
no gas or oil heating (which aren't cheap anyway). But, alas, they
are expensive to install.

I'm now looking at two other interesting solutions.

One is chlorine dioxide. It's described here:
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/abbey/an/an26/an26-6/an26-618.html

Another is to put a simple exhaust fan in my basement (where my books
currently reside) to draw warmer and dryer air down to the basement
from the rest of the house through an open basement door. That may
use about 35 watts when running, less than 1/10th the cost of the
dehumidifier, though maybe not as effective.

The chlorine dioxide approach is related to Shane's suggestion of
spraying a fine mist of bleach - but perhaps a little safer since Cl02
is said to be well tested as non-toxic for humans.

Thanks again.

Alan

The actual usage depends on how long t
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

>>> I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
>>> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
>>> can get moldy.
>>> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
>>> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
>>> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
>>> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
>>> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
>>> damage books), etc.?
>> A dehumidifier shouldn't cost much to run. Have you checked its
>> power consumption, or the power consumption of the smallest one
>> that will do the job?
> Air conditioning removes moisture as well as cooling the space.
> Air conditioning can be made less expensive with a heat pump.

If you just want to control mould you don't need cooling. A couple of
thousand years of manuscripts preserved in desert environments says so.


> High Efficiency (SEER 16 to 23) air conditioners (not heat
> pumps) cost about $3,500, but run with much reduced costs.

I bought my dehumidifier second-hand for fifty pounds. Our power
consumption had dropped a fair bit since, as I don't need to run a
heater in there very often.

No air conditioner can ever be very efficient. They are always a
grotesque waste of energy. The world simply can't afford them.

If you can't handle the climate where you are, abandon the place
to people who aren't such goddamn wimps. Probably the greatest
manuscript library of all time was that of mediaeval Baghdad,
destroyed by the Mongols under Hulagu - they wrote all that without
needing air conditioners. And there are plenty of people in present
day Baghdad who'd happily trade their bombed-out houses for yours
even if they didn't get AC with it.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

Ï "Alan Meyer" <ameyer2.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> Ýãñáøå óôï ìÞíõìá
news:g1cnk0$sgs$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
> can get moldy.
>
> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
> damage books), etc.?
>
We had the same problem in our house. We bought a dehumidifier, and ran it
for a couple of years. The humidity has disappeared. The dehumidifier *is* a
heat pump, it cools the air so that it drops water. The heating part is in
the same machine, and heats the air after it has been cooled, and the water
has been removed. Although its power rating is not so great 700-800 W, its
*energy* consumption is enormous, like 100 euros on every two-moth
electricity bill.



--
Tzortzakakis Dimitrios
major in electrical engineering
mechanized infantry reservist
hordad AT otenet DOT gr
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

<Fire kills mold too, why not set your books on fire?

Evidently, you didn't read the below excerpt from Mr. Meyer's post,
confirming bleach as being closely related to chlorine dioxide. Dip your
moldy books in bleach to rid them of the damaging scourge.

"The chlorine dioxide approach is related to Shane's suggestion of spraying
a fine mist of bleach - but perhaps a little safer since Cl02 is said to be
well tested as non-toxic for humans."
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

Shane wrote:
> <Fire kills mold too, why not set your books on fire?
>
> Evidently, you didn't read the below excerpt from Mr. Meyer's post,
> confirming bleach as being closely related to chlorine dioxide. Dip your
> moldy books in bleach to rid them of the damaging scourge.
>
> "The chlorine dioxide approach is related to Shane's suggestion of spraying
> a fine mist of bleach - but perhaps a little safer since Cl02 is said to be
> well tested as non-toxic for humans."
>
>

Interesting. I see that it can be buffered to pHs above 7.0
and still act as a biocide.


Francis A. Miniter
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

"Alan Meyer" <ameyer2.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:g1cnk0$sgs$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
> can get moldy.
>
> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
> damage books), etc.?
>
> Thanks.

I've decided to try a very simple solution.

At least twice a week, and maybe more often, I'm spraying
some Lysol spray disinfectant into the air in the room with
the books. Lysol is an effective fungicide, and it's cheap
and readily available. I don't know whether it will do the
job or not, but I'm inspecting everything carefully to try
to spot any problems at the earliest stages. If I see
mold beginning on the surfaces most susceptible to them,
I may bite the bullet an turn on my dehumidifier.

Alan
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

Alan Meyer wrote:
> "Alan Meyer" <ameyer2 DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:g1cnk0$sgs$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>> I have a collection of several thousand books in a part of my
>> house that gets too humid in the summer time. The books
>> can get moldy.
>>
>> I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
>> the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
>> in my state and it's getting really expensive. Has anyone
>> successfully controlled mold by cheaper means - air
>> circulation, lysol spray, ultraviolet light (which can also
>> damage books), etc.?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> I've decided to try a very simple solution.
>
> At least twice a week, and maybe more often, I'm spraying
> some Lysol spray disinfectant into the air in the room with
> the books. Lysol is an effective fungicide, and it's cheap
> and readily available. I don't know whether it will do the
> job or not, but I'm inspecting everything carefully to try
> to spot any problems at the earliest stages. If I see
> mold beginning on the surfaces most susceptible to them,
> I may bite the bullet an turn on my dehumidifier.
>
> Alan
>

What is the pH of Lysol?


Francis A. Miniter
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

"Francis A. Miniter" <faminiter.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hvWdneRH7Z0fF6bVnZ2dnUVZ_qDinZ2d@comcast.com...
> Alan Meyer wrote:
>> ...
>> At least twice a week, and maybe more often, I'm spraying
>> some Lysol spray disinfectant into the air in the room with
>> the books.
> ...

> What is the pH of Lysol?

I haven't found a definitive answer. For one reason, there
are different formulations for different purposes. But all
of the sources I'm finding on the web declare it to be
highly alkaline. The lowest number I've found is ">9",
and the highest (for Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner)
is 12.5. I've seen a couple of web pages claiming 10. I
don't have any pH papers or a meter to test with myself.

Alan
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

Alan Meyer wrote:
> "Francis A. Miniter" <faminiter.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:hvWdneRH7Z0fF6bVnZ2dnUVZ_qDinZ2d@comcast.com...
>> Alan Meyer wrote:
>>> ...
>>> At least twice a week, and maybe more often, I'm spraying
>>> some Lysol spray disinfectant into the air in the room with
>>> the books.
>> ...
>
>> What is the pH of Lysol?
>
> I haven't found a definitive answer. For one reason, there
> are different formulations for different purposes. But all
> of the sources I'm finding on the web declare it to be
> highly alkaline. The lowest number I've found is ">9",
> and the highest (for Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner)
> is 12.5. I've seen a couple of web pages claiming 10. I
> don't have any pH papers or a meter to test with myself.
>
> Alan
>
>

For my darkroom work, a few years ago I got a nifty little
meter from Hanna Instruments for under $35. See their web
page for current information.
http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Hanna-pH-Meter-Checker-HI98103-HI-981...P16315C


Francis A. Miniter
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold? 

On Sun, 25 May 2008 18:01:54 -0400, "Alan Meyer" <ameyer2.RemoveThis@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I've dealt with that in the past with dehumidification, but in
>the last year electricity costs have gone through the roof
>in my state and it's getting really expensive.

Dehumidifier, but control air circulation too so that the dried air
remains around the library room / cupboard and humid air cant enter from
outside. That, and check your dehumidifer is efficient and in good
order. They're cheap to buy these days but expensive to run -
replacement can be worthwhile.
 >> Stay informed about: Preserving books against mold?