Tag: thermohygrometer

NEW Thermohygrometer in the new Trotec design

Posted on by Melanie Strothkaemper

Thermohygrometer

The global climate summits still leave us waiting for progress. Unlike our climate measuring devices – which are 100% Trotec: from the in-house development and manufacture to the innovative design, which has recently made our BC06 and BC21 shine. With both devices you can carry out climate checks optimally, at home, in the office or in the warehouse – as preparation for your personal climate summit!

In terms of the design, Trotec opted for a visually attractive shape that is also comfortable to hold. Sitting comfortably in the hand, the design ensures the best-possible operator comfort in both devices. Equipped with unmistakable features from Trotec, with each measurement they don’t just cut a fine figure technically. Simply the best German industry design, optimised for practical use – and on top of that, a trademarked registered design! Read More

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Climate measurement instrument BC20 Thermohygrometer

Posted on by Melanie Strothkaemper

BC20

Is there really an ideal feel good climate for humans and animals, plants and furniture as well as devices? Or is there any latent risk of rust or mould? If you want to play safe, grab the BC20 Thermohygrometer – the climate measurement instrument with professional ambition: now offered particularly favourable!

With the Thermohygrometer BC20 you can control the humidity and temperature ratio at anytime – and determine the ideal climate conditions in living, work and storage rooms. Read More

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Save money on heating by finding the right humidity levels

Posted on by Elena Kramer

Comfort diagram

When it comes to saving energy and heating costs, people can become really creative. Some of them only heat those rooms which they use most. Others get one of those fancy dog draught excluders, or they close all shutters to improve the insulation of their windows. And because for every degree you turn down your heating you save a good 6 % off your next energy bill, they wear a second sweater or a third pair of socks. That is certainly one way of dealing with the problem…

But what most people tend to forget: The apparent air temperature strongly depends on the humidity levels in the room you are in!

This phenomenon can easily be illustrated when you think of the summer holidays. Have you ever been to the tropics? Exactly – the high humidity levels in such areas make the heat almost unbearable. However, when you are in the desert, temperatures seem far more moderate, although they are usually a lot higher.

How you can use this information to save on heating costs at home? Read More

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Bookworms Beware!

Posted on by Alfred Austin

the right humidity level for books

A good book is more than just a good read (If you find that the book you’re reading is a bad book, then put it down – no, better still toss it aside, because that’s the treatment it deserves. Like a telenovela or a corked wine which do not get any better the longer you watch it or the more you drink of it a bad book does not improve with reading).

A good book is a door to another world. A world sometimes so magical, so enthralling and so different to our own that we cannot wait to pick it up again and eagerly read on, plunging deeper and deeper, losing ourselves in its pages or picking our way meticulously through the weaving narrative or plot. A book can mesmerise and charm you, or it can captivate and revolt you. It can change your life forever or become a warm memory and an old friend. Books can be beautifully written, beautifully bound and beautifully illustrated. They can be inspiring or disheartening; they can be so funny and so sad that they make you cry. Books are mirrors of society and mirrors of souls. And they are proof of the power of the written word.

Which raises the question: “Where’s the best place to keep your books?” Read More

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Summertime and the living is easy…

Posted on by Alfred Austin

Measuring devices for gardeningWe all look forward to the summer. To the long, warm evenings sitting outside street side cafes or stretching out on patios; to bright, sunny, carefree days lounging in the sun or relaxing in the shade; to the vibrant, captivating colours and the sweet scents and evocative smells that are the mark of every much-loved and well-tendered garden.

And being a nation renowned for its green fingers – unlike the Germans who according to a saying they have pride themselves on their green thumbs – we enjoy spending endless hours shaping and styling shrubs and hedgerows, trimming bushes and manicuring lawns and generally spending just about every spare minute we have pottering around in our own little refuge.

There’s always something to do in a well-kept garden. Especially, of course, at this time of the year. In fact sometimes the days just can’t be long enough depending on the size of the garden that you are lucky enough to call your own. If you are already into self-sufficiency – or simply love the taste of home-grown produce – and are fortunate to have your own vegetable patch, then now is generally the time to harvest some of the early plants like carrots, cabbages, cauliflower, courgettes and kale and time to sow or replant others like Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, chicory and – peas.

You may want to give your lawn a treat and sprinkle it with fertiliser – also home-grown if you prefer. The grass clippings that many people are only too glad to get rid of when they have mowed their lawn are full of nutrients which put back the goodness into the soil. But as is the case with most gardening tips, and indeed many other areas in life, moderation is the key.

And what about every gardener’s pride and joy? Flowers. Glorious, full-bloomed, delicate, luscious, beautifully cultivated flowers. Flowers in every possible shade, colour, size and form.

What do they need to flourish? How do you know what the best possible place for your prized flowers and plants is? Read More

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How to Create the Right Climate for Your Prized Orchids

Posted on by Alfred Austin

Orchids are among the most popular and widespread flowering plants in the world. Their often tall, slender stalks, their exotic and extravagant form and their delicate petals and magnificent colours inspire and fascinate orchid lovers and growers around the world and fill the hearts of those who share their passion and pleasure with wonder and awe.

Orchids are most commonly found in the tropics of South and Central America and also in Asia. For the Aztecs they were holy, which is why they grew them in their splendid antique gardens, and for Confucius, the wise Chinese thinker and philosopher, they embodied grace, purity, beauty and elegance.

close-up shot of pink orchidBut there are several hardened species which can flourish as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as Antarctica. Of the 30,000 or so different species of orchid known to man there is a small number which are deemed especially collectable. Rothschild’s Slipper, an orchid that takes as long as 15 years to grow, can fetch prices upwards of 5000 US dollars per stem.

Most hobby gardeners would not be willing to pay such a considerable price for a single example, but they are prepared to invest quite substantial sums in order to be able to nurture their passion. Read More

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Time to say goodbye to a heating myth or two – and save £££s on your next energy bill !

Posted on by Alfred Austin

Finding the best way to heat your house has become somewhat of a science nowadays – of course you want it to be nice and warm, but isn’t that easier said than done when you consider how prices for natural gas and heating oil have gone through the roof in recent months? And what about the moisture content of the air? If the relative humidity is too high then there’s a real risk of mould forming – mould that can seriously affect your health and damage your possessions. Too low and you can quickly end up with dry, itchy skin, chapped lips and a sore throat and a barking cough to go with it.

What many people do not realise, however, is that you can actually save yourself a tidy sum and more importantly perhaps protect yourself, your family and your property if you are prepared to say goodbye to one or two popular myths which are commonly associated with heating and ventilation: Read More

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Play It Again, Sam!

Posted on by Alfred Austin

Protect Your Prized Piano with climate control by Trotec

A piano – be it an upright piano or a grand piano, a Steinway or a Yamaha – is often the most prized possession and most highly-valued musical instrument in hundreds of thousands if not millions of homes and households. Pianos, and piano music, are extremely popular all over the world. Which other instrument, apart from perhaps an exquisitely-tuned violin, is able to capture the hearts of those listening and strike the chords that touch the soul and move and uplift the listener to higher spheres, or drag them down – deep, deep, down – into the darker realms of despondency, grief and gloom?

So why then do so many people who own such a beautiful instrument not look after their valuable possessions the way they ought to?

Wood is full of life. It has a history, a story to tell and it still lives on long after the wood that has been hand-picked by experienced and dedicated piano makers has been crafted into a fine musical instrument. Wood, as we all know, reacts very strongly to its surrounding conditions. It can contract and expand – and even crack and tear apart – depending on how moist or dry the air that surrounds it is. That’s why it is so important that you spend enough time selecting the right place for such a skillfully mastered instrument. And it’s not just the acoustics you should be focusing on – on the contrary, the right place for your piano is the room, chamber or parlour where the relative humidity and the temperature are evenly balanced and within certain limits. Strongly fluctuating temperatures or humidity levels that are too high or too low can not only put your piano out of tune, they can literally ruin your masterpiece making costly repairs necessary or even rendering it worthless.

So what can be done to ensure that the relative humidity remains within certain limits and the temperature does not drop below or exceed certain thresholds?

Dehumidifiers are highly sophisticated and highly effective pieces of equipment which are designed to monitor and regulate the relative humidity in your home, workplace or office so as to provide you with just the right amount of humidity that you need. Depending on their size and the application which they have been built for, dehumidifiers can extract up to 20 litres of moisture from the surrounding air in just one single day. This means that they are easily able to reduce high moisture levels that could otherwise cause the wood of your piano to swell up or split and maintain a desired indoor climate with a relative humidity that lies ideally between 50 and 65%.

If, on the other hand, the air in the room is not too moist but far too dry, then you need to be able to rely on a humidifier to prevent you the wood of you piano from cracking to the point that it is beyond repair. A humidifier increases the moisture in the air, but only as much as you would like and enough to create a pleasant indoor climate and an overall sense of well-being.

The right temperature also plays a vital role regarding the position of your piano. Make sure that it is not too close to any heat sources like a radiator for example, and that your room thermostat is set to between 15 C and 24 C. You will also need to provide for some form of insulation if you have underfloor heating and be careful to keep it away from cold spots and draughts.

There are some people who say that a piano is as sensitive as a human being. They think that you should never keep your piano in a climate which you yourself would not feel comfortable in. You may of course not wish to leave anything to chance and therefore decide to use a piece of professional measuring equipment to check that the temperature and the relative humidity are at the right levels. A thermohygrometer is such a professional, high-precision device. It is practically two devices rolled into one. And it is robust, reliable and very reasonably priced.

Perhaps not quite as valuable as your average piano, but it does do its job just as well.

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Mould and how to prevent it – 5 golden rules for tenants

Posted on by Tim Austin

How to prevent mould

For many home-owners and tenants living in apartments or flats there is one sight which causes them great discomfort and fills them with utter disgust – mould. Yet mould is not only unsightly, it can quickly become dangerous and trigger allergic reactions or make a house’s or flat’s occupants very ill. All the more reason then to prevent mould from occurring in the first place and to find out more about what causes mould and what can be done to combat it.

One of the biggest causes of mould is the difference in temperature between the cold outside walls of a building and the heated rooms inside. That’s why the best form of insulation is insulation which is applied to the outside of the building. As a home-owner you can do something about it: you can carry out modernisation work and fix exterior cladding to the outside walls – as a tenant you can’t. This is why we have compiled a list with 5 golden rules designed to help those who in such cases cannot help themselves simply because they are living in rented accommodation and therefore unable to take the necessary steps that would make mould less of an issue and more a thing of the past.

Rule No. 1:

Do not put any furniture up against outside walls or the corners of outside walls.

If you are unable to follow this rule, because you are pushed for space and wouldn’t know what to do with certain pieces of furniture, then try to make sure that there is at least 10cm between the outside wall and the piece of furniture in question.

Rule No. 2:
The rooms in your flat have to be evenly heated.

This includes bedrooms which many people insist on not heating, because they believe that they will then be able to sleep better when they go to bed. This may be the case, but turning the central heating right off is going to give mould the chance it needs.

Rule No. 3:
Open the windows at least twice a day.

And when we say open, we mean open. Not just a crack, but wide open for about 5 to 10 minutes. This gives the air enough time to circulate. The stale, used air goes out and the fresh, hopefully clean air comes in.

Rule No. 4 :
Make sure that bathrooms are aired properly after a hot shower or hot bath.

This is sometimes much harder than you might first think: some windows are simply too small to be adequate and some bathrooms have no windows at all. In such cases a dehumidifier is just the right device. It extracts the moisture out of the air and creates just the right indoor climate.

Rule No. 5:
The relative humidity of a room should not be higher than 65- 70%.

It can be a little higher – along the walls, for example, where it can be as high as 80%, but this is an exception. If you’re looking for a way to measure the relative humidity, try one of our thermohygrometers. They are designed to do just that.

Oh, and by the way… If you are having an earnest problem with mould in your flat, then you are generally entitled to hold back some of the rent. This is, however, a sword which can cut both ways: landlords often try to turn the tables on tenants by claiming that the mould is a result of gross negligence on the part of the tenant who has not been airing the flat adequately.

Do you have or have you had problems with mould in your apartment or flat? Write to us and tell us about it. Or let us in on your secret if you have any other useful tips or golden rules which you would like to share with your fellow readers. We would love to hear from you.

TROTEC. For a better world.

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Problems with moisture for home builders in summer?

Posted on by Christian Hoffmann

Problems with moisture for home builders in summer?
You must be joking!

We’re not, actually. And as anybody who has had the misfortune of having to deal with damage caused by dampness and excess moisture after their house had not been given enough time to dry out will tell you – mould is not a laughing matter.

It is still popular belief among many home builders that summertime is the best time of the year to carry out their building projects because it is warmer – and because it is warmer walls and screed will therefore dry more quickly. Wrong. What they fail to realize is that it is not the temperature which is the deciding factor when it comes to drying out new buildings – it is the relative humidity. And in summertime the relative humidity is still surprisingly high.

Measurements carried out by the met office in Friedberg show that the average relative humidity in June alone was 56% (!) compared to an average relative humidity of 68% throughout 2010.

But help is at hand! Building dryers are used throughout the building trade to dry buildings at all times of the year and not just in the winter months which is what most people would expect. Which building dryer you need depends on the size of your building, the prevailing temperature and, of course, the relative humidity. The best and perhaps most reliable way to determine the size of the building is to use a laser distance meter. Laser distance meters from Leica, for example, can measure room sizes accurately down to four hundredths of an inch (1mm). There’s German precision again for you.

The next step is to determine the temperature and the relative humidity. A tthermohygrometer is practically two devices rolled into one. It can measure the temperature in either degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit and it provides you with accurate information on relative humidity. It’s a bit like killing two birds with one – er – thermohygrometer.

The third and final step is to enter the information you have gathered into our totally-free-of-charge, no-strings-attached calculator which then determines the dehumidification performance you need before telling you which building dryer will transform your building from a wet one into a dry one.

Oh, yes. And by the way… a single building dryer is all you need to dry out any number of rooms in a building if you follow the steps mentioned above. These steps ensure that you pick the right-sized building dryer for your own individual application. One mustn’t forget, however, that this is only possible if the air can be circulated between the rooms sufficiently. A fan is often the most efficient means of making sure that this is guaranteed.

A combination comprising the right building dryer and the right fan can cut drying times in buildings not only in half but by as much as 75%! This means that you can move into your new home on time and save £’s on heating costs, which can soar up to 200% of what you would normally have to pay simply because dry walls keep out the cold better than wet ones.

You can rest assured that you and your family are moving into a dry house with a healthy indoor climate and that you are saving money in the long run, because there is no need to call in the builders to remove the damage caused by mould and moisture. Not a bad deal really when you come to think of it.

Did you know that…? You don’t have to buy our building dryers and fans if you don’t want to. You can also hire them out from our service divison TKL.

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