Benefits for Museums

Museums have the task of preserving treasures of humanity and art. The countless, often unique and irreplaceable exhibits are worth billions of Euros and must therefore be permanently protected from any possible damage, especially from environmental influences.

Artifact Protection

Prevents drying or over-hydration of exhibits, minimizing stress and cracks in sensitive materials.

Stable Environment

Keeps relative humidity within tight margins to prevent material fatigue and deterioration.

Damage Prevention

Protects paintings, textiles, paper, wood, and other hygroscopic materials.

Image Museum exhibition mummy

Climatic Fluctuations

Seasonal and daily changes in temperature and relative humidity affect indoor environments, transferring external climate fluctuations directly into museum spaces. Sudden or frequent variations place stress on sensitive materials, causing warping, cracking, or surface damage. A responsive and reliable humidity control system minimizes these effects, stabilizes the indoor climate, and protects collections from long-term deterioration.
Picture Museum two women

Excessively Dry Air

Excessively dry air extracts moisture from sensitive materials, causing shrinkage, warping, and stress in wood, paper, textiles, and paintings. Repeated exposure accelerates cracking, splitting, and pigment damage. Maintaining stable humidity prevents these effects, protects delicate collections, and preserves the structural integrity and appearance of objects over time.
Image Museum Plane exhibit

Humidity Control Technologies

Humidity control in museums and galleries relies on technologies such as resistive steam humidifiers, mobile evaporative units, and condensing or desiccant dehumidifiers. These systems increase or reduce humidity levels as required, provide precise, responsive control, and can be adapted for centralized ducted air handling systems or in-room installations to protect collections and maintain stable indoor environments.

Discover Condair in Action

References

Dancing House, Prague - Czech Republic

Condair EL steam humidifiers deliver precise, hygienic humidity control in Prague‚ the iconic Dancing House‚ the Frank Gehry‚ the world-famous Fred and Ginger‚ deconstructivist masterpiece on the Vltava riverbank.

ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus

Condair DL hybrid humidifiers ensure optimal indoor humidity at The ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, protecting over 1,100 paintings and 400 sculptures.

The Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum is located within the Louvre Palace in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It houses some of the world's most famous works of Western art, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. With approximately 783,000 sq ft of exhibition rooms and galleries, it is the largest art museum in the world, ahead of the State Hermitage Museum (719,500 sq ft) and the National Museum of China (699,700 sq ft).

Various Condair humidity control technologies (Condair DL, RS, ME, DC) help to maintain the ideal room humidity for the preservation of the exhibits and the well-being of staff and visitors.

Tokyo National Museum

The Tokyo National Museum collects, houses, and displays a comprehensive collection of art works and antiquities from Japan as well as other Asian countries. The museum also conducts research and investigations concerning its collection of books, rubbings, and photographs, related to fine art, and makes these items available to scholars. Condair humidifiers not only protect the collections, but also help to provide an optimal environment for guests and employees at the Museum.
humidification at the rijskmuseum

Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

The Rijksmuseum is one of the world's finest art museums with over 1.5km of galleries and artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh. The Condair DL hybrid humidifier is maintaining the ideal humidity for the preservation of paintings such as The Night Watch, The Milkmaid and The Merry Drinker.

Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

The Depot of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum was opened in November 2021 by the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and houses 151,000 works of art with a total value of around 8 billion euros. A round shape was chosen in order to make the building appear equally inviting from all sides. Thus, the building has no front or back. The reflective façade, consisting of 6,609 m2 of glass and distributed over 1,664 mirror panels, makes the building look different depending on the weather. Thus, its visual appearance changes daily, like a living painting. The atrium with the intersecting staircase and the forest roof realized at a height of approx. 35 m is a particularly eye-catching feature. The birch trees, grasses and pines placed on the roof help to store water and reduce heat stress in the city. Condair hybrid humidifiers ensure a healthy room climate as well as optimum room humidity for conservation.

Auckland Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, and has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand. It frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions.

British Museum, UK

The British Museum first opened its doors in 1759, and is now one of the largest and most important culture and history museums in the world. At the center of the building is a covered square, with the former British Library building at its center. The roof was designed by the English star architect Sir Norman Foster, and is made up of 3,312 glass panes arranged in pairs. Condair steam humidifiers on each of the museum's three floors ensure an ideal indoor climate for visitors and exhibits alike.

Columbus Museum of Modern Art, USA

The Columbus Museum of Art needed precise humidity control to protect priceless artworks and ensure visitor comfort. Condair installed its RS steam humidifiers, integrated with the museum‚ HVAC system, delivering consistent humidity in the ideal 50 ± 5 % RH range. The system‚ design allows rapid response to seasonal and daily fluctuations, ensuring paintings, sculptures, and historic artifacts are safeguarded against cracking, warping, or other moisture-related damage. Easy to operate and maintain, the RS units provide reliable, energy-efficient performance while blending unobtrusively into the museum‚ infrastructure. By maintaining stable indoor humidity, Condair helps preserve the integrity of the collection, supports optimal conditions for visitors, and provides curators with confidence that their environment meets stringent conservation standards.

Olaf Gulbransson Museum, Tegernsee

Werttvolle Exponate durch Luftbefeuchtung schützen Das Olaf Gulbransson Museum am Tegernsee ist eines von vier KarikaturMuseen in Europa. Ausstellungsschwerpunkt sind Exponate des Künstlers Olaf Gulbransson, der durch die legendäre Münchner Satire-Zeitung Simplicissimus berühmt wurde. Im Zuge der Neubau-Planung suchte das Museum auch nach neuen Klimalösungen: Für unsere empfindlichen Graphiken und Karikaturen ist eine konstante, relative Luftfeuchte von 55% erforderlich, um vor Rissen und Brüchen zu schützen, erklärt die wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin Sandra Wiedemann.

Paul Klee Museum, Bern, Switzerland

The Kunstmuseum, Zentrum Paul Klee, is located in Bern, Switzerland, in the immediate vicinity of the Schlosshalde cemetery, where Paul Klee™s grave can also be found. The building is dominated by curved arches that blend harmoniously into the surrounding hilly landscape. It houses the comprehensive work of the Paul Klee Foundation and reflects the artist™s complexity through the division into three hills. The North Hill is dedicated to practical art education, conferences, and workshops. The Central Hill is used for collection presentation and temporary exhibitions, the South Hill for research and administration. Condair™s DL hybrid air humidifiers create an optimum indoor climate for visitors and the sensitive works of art.

Henry Moore Foundation, UK

Two Condair RS steam humidifiers have been installed, by Ceilite Air Conditioning, at the prestigious Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire. Henry Moore was a renowned artist, best known for his figure sculptures.

National Army Museum, UK

The National Army Museum is the leading authority on the British Army and its impact on society past and present. Condair has supplied and installed three Condair RS resistive steam humidifiers to maintain the humidity around the exhibits and archives.

Foundation Michalski, Switzerland

An ideal work site for literature and literati - that was the vision that Vera and Jan Michalski wanted to achieve with the Maison d'ecriture. It is located at the foot of the Vaud Jura Mountains, in the Bois Ditsert in Montricher, with a view of Lake Geneva and the Alps. The site was chosen for its scenic beauty and the quiet surroundings that are supposed to have a positive effect on writers' activities and inspire them to reflect. This location has a very special appeal and a unique atmosphere. Architects V. Mangeat and P. Wahlen were tasked with designing the architecture of the object. They created several buildings for the foundation's numerous activities that fit perfectly into the surrounding nature and form a kind of settlement. Individual living spaces for authors, a dining room, a recreation room, a large library for research, a room with modular space for exhibitions and an auditorium for all kinds of events promise numerous encounters and brisk cultural exchange. Condair DL hybrid humidifiers ensure comfortable atmospheric humidity.

Frequently Asked Questions

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