Humidity-how high is high?

notCardio

I walk the line
Does anyone know the optimum humidity level for a studio environment? My music space is in a walkout basement in the Midwest, and it gets very humid here. Even with the central a/c running, it's still about 65% RH in the basement. I'm going to ge a dehumidifier, but I'm wondering how dry I need to try to make it for the mics and other electronics, and how big a dehumidifier I need to get. Part of the problem of trying to figure this out is that I, like many here, have only one room, IOW, the control room and the tracking room are one in the same. The dilemma that that presents is that I need it to be about 50% RH for my acoustics and my upright bass. Is that an acceptable figure for mics and/or control rooms?
Also, can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier, or steer me away from one that's a piece of junk?
How do you guys in the gulf states handle this? Gidge?

Thanks for any help you can give me.
 
I live in South Florida and if it ever gets below 80% humidity down here we are in heaven!!

Have you thought about painting a really good sealer paint on the walls and floor to keep out the dampness??
 
Tim,

I don't mean that I have water seeping through the walls or anything like that, but humid air, being heavier, sinks to the lowest level it can, which in my case, is the basement. I know that I definitely need a dehumidifier, I was just wondering if anyone out there (like studio owners, maybe) knew what kind of RH% number I should be shooting for in order to protect my equipment.
 
They usually print that info in the specs on your manuals.

Here in AZ we actually use cooling systems that humidify the air ;)
 
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