Is 85* F and 28-33%% relative humidity good to go for a gun safe? The safe is relatively air-tight and has a golden rod, so the temperature is 10-15* warmer than the outside air temperature.
You should be fine. 35% RH is my goal which can be hard to meet during NC’s humid summers. I have multiple golden rods in my safe (AMSEC BF7250) and a dehumidifier in my safe room, and it still creeps up to 40-43% on occasion. Anything above 50% is likely to cause problems.
Try one of these in your safe. I recharge once a week (though not really necessary) - works like a charm and cheap. Have several that are over 5 years old and still work perfectly.
My concern was actually the opposite, higher temperatures and lower humidity (less about rust and more about was the safe too dry?). This is a fire safe and it’s relatively airtight, so the golden rod does a good job of raising the temperature an extra 10-15*, which seems to be on the high side of what most people report. Additionally, the humidity is hovering around 25% now. I have some wood-stocked hunting rifles and wanted to make sure the humidity wasn’t too low and temperature wasn’t too high for them.
You’re fine but I’d lose the Golden Rod or at least unplug it. There’s no sense in adding additional heat and/or bringing the RH any lower if you’re already at 25%.
The Golden Rod is part of the reason the relative humidity (RH) is low, it also prevents condensation from forming on the firearms, as the firearms will always be warmer than the air outside the safe (where the RH is higher). Lowering the temperature increases the RH.
Prior to the Golden Rod, the RH was 40-50%, and the temperature would fluctuate with the room’s temperature.
Is your safe in an unheated garage or basement? Temperature swings are more of a concern, because the humidity changes with temperature, and rapid changes in either can cause condensation or degrade wood stocks. I’ve read that 50% humidity is ideal, but if yours is lower it should be OK as long as it’s not changing quickly. The golden rod should help some, but the temperature will still fluctuate in synch with the outside room temperature. Better to have it in a climate-controlled space, if you can.
It’s all relative. ;).
If humidity is a concern, you want to lower your temperature & dew point.
I prefer desiccant dryers.
It’s indoors and heated, but it does have relatively higher temperature swings that the rest of the house (the insulation in that room isn’t as good). That was one of my main reasons for using the golden rod, as steel will warm up slower than the ambient air and moisture can condense on it if the RH is 50 or higher.