Humidity control for my plant room

[Rocketcaver]

So, I have 2 humidifiers.
One is programmable, but settings only go up to 50%. This used to sit in my office at work until I convinced the boss we needed a bigger one for the whole front office. Mine now.
The other is manual, you must turn it on and off. What a drag.
Has anyone obtained a fairly inexpensive humidistat that you can just plug the manual humidifier into, set it for XX% humidity and forget it?
I have looked online and found some really cool ones, but for the price could buy a whole new humidifier.
Frustrating.

 

[seedjar]

I was talking about this with swords the other day. Home Depot carries a dual-mode on/off mechanical humidistat for like $28 online, I think. You have to wire it up yourself, but swords turned me on to these piggyback appliance cords that have both a plug and an outlet on one end, so you can put a control device in between the two on the other end of the cord. I couldn't find cheap wall humidistats for the longest time, but now that I have I think I might build one. I don't especially need a humidistat at the moment but I still want one from the days that I couldn't find one and I kept my highlanders in a terrarium.
~Joe

 

[Rocketcaver]

Thanks for the lead, I'll check it out.
Wiring it up is no problem, part of my job.

 

[swords]

Yep, Home Depot has them nowadays, at least here in MN you find them in the ducting and home ventilation aisle. I think Joe said they don't have them on the shelf at his retail HD outlets. The HD humidistats made by Honeywell for use inside the home only go to 60% RH but here is how you can over ride it:

Set it to 60% and then hang the humidistat close under the lights where it's warmer and drier and will cause the humidifier to run longer down where the plants are. Use a temp/hygrometer to see where the best placement for the humidistat is. I liked having my chambers get to 80% where the leaves are slightly tacky/clammy but not yet wet.

I just want to add when you wire it up be sure to put aquarium silicone or some of that "tool dip" rubber coating for plier handles and things where you connect the power cord to the humidistat. This should ensure that your connection is as waterproof as possible for a DIY electrical project going into a wet jungle. I got an 8 oz bottle of black tool dip (also used to encapsulate electrical wires) for like $9 at a small hardware store. I'll never need more in my lifetime! HD may have it but aquarium silicone should be fine too if not since as it's also waterproof.

Good luck!

 

[Rocketcaver]

I saw that the unit only went up to 60%, was wondering how to hack it up to 75% or so, thanks for the tip.
We use a similar plastic dipping product at work.