Oh no, my hygrometer broke!

[Revelle]

My hygrometer broke, and I think it's been broke the last couple days.

This is the first run it's been on, but it constantly reads 20% humidity, then I add water, and it only goes up to 30% for a few minutes, then goes back to rest on 20%.

I don't have the money to buy one that's for sure accurate right now, so I'm not sure what to do. I'm going to ask my biotech teacher if she has one from the labs I can borrow. (If she lets us bio engineer bacteria to glow, why not?

) But I'm not sure if she has one with her science instruments of wonder.

Anyone know how I might be able to get the hygrometer to read correctly?

 

[patandchickens]

Are you *sure* it is actually broken? If it is moving, it is probably working, although it might be inaccurate (or if you live in a dry climate, might not be).

Try taking it out and using the salt method to check its accuracy, e.g. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=285284 and
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=288252

This will tell you how mcuh you need to add or subtract to its reading to find out the approximate *real* humidity. If it is more than 20% off, get a new one, but if it's less, that's probably good enough. A new one needn't be expensive btw -- the $50 ones are no more accurate than the $5 ones, they ALL have a substantial chance of being inaccurate and need to be checked using the salt method so you can know the right correction factor.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Revelle]

Awesome! I'll give that a try. Thank you.

Though I did think that the more expensive ones had a high chance of being accurate.

<3