Conditions that affect production
- Dry-season shrinkage, checking and splitting
- Changes in fit at doors, drawers and joints
- Moisture differences between storage and production
- Outdoor-air losses through dust collection and shipping doors
A plant with high dust-collection airflow can need more humidification than another plant of the same floor area. Distinguish air returned indoors from air actually exhausted outdoors, and account for makeup air and door traffic.
Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) describes the condition toward which wood moves in a given environment. It helps connect indoor RH to material behavior, but controlling room humidity does not instantly correct lumber that arrives too wet or too dry.
FanMist combines high-pressure water atomization, fans and automatic controls. Planning considers fan locations, clear space for evaporation, water treatment and the moisture output needed in each zone.
Set the right humidity target
The IHC woodworking guide discusses 35–45% RH at approximately 69–72°F as a winter planning range. Its worked sizing example uses 35% RH at 69°F. The appropriate target still depends on the lumber’s incoming moisture content, product requirements and intended service conditions.
A sizing example from the woodworking guide
The guide’s illustrative 75,000 ft² plant has a 25-foot ceiling and 35,000 CFM of governing makeup air. Using its stated winter conditions, the calculated load is 747 lb/hr; the guide’s 15% margin raises the design capacity to approximately 859 lb/hr. This is an instructional example, not an installed-customer result.
Understand the load calculation →Projects in this industry
Woodworking: three zones shaped by the plant's airflow
Forty 36-inch misting fans, five pump stations and three independently controlled zones, planned around 200,000 CFM of makeup air.
Woodworking: five zones across 255,300 square feet
Forty ceiling-hung FanMist fans and five automated pump stations, with reverse-osmosis water and a winter design target of 35% RH.
Common questions
What humidity should a woodworking facility maintain?
Use the material and process requirements to set the target. The IHC guide’s 35–45% RH winter range is a starting point for discussion, with temperature and lumber moisture considered together.
Does returning dust-collection air eliminate the humidity load?
Returning air can reduce outdoor-air replacement, but leaks, relief air, other process exhaust and shipping doors still contribute. Measure the portion actually lost and the makeup air supplied.