Long-time assessment of hygrothermal conditions of the Sedlec charnel house

• Main Authors: Balík, Lukáš, Kudrnáčová, Lucie, Maděra, Jiří, Pavlík, Zbyšek, Černý, Robert
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air conditioners; Dependence; Humidity; Microclimate; Relative humidity; Restoration; Variations
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5047604

The paper aims at characterization of hygrothermal conditions of the Sedlec charnel house and evaluation whether the present microclimate is acceptable for preservation of human bone decorations and other historically valuable artefacts placed in the charnel house chapel. The leading value for the microclimate is always relative humidity closely linked with temperature. Therefore, the continuous measurement of relative humidity and temperature fluctuations was done in the charnel housel chapel in the period from March 2016 to March 2017. In order to understand the effect of exterior climate on the natural microclimate of the charnel house chapel that is not air conditioned, exterior climatic data was collected using weather station placed in a church tower. The interior climate of charnel house is found greatly unstable, with average relative humidity in the range 68.6-75.1% in dependence on sensors positioning. The temperature varied from 1.0 °C (January 2016) to 26.9 °C (August 2016). The greatest risk of surface condensation was observed from February to June. Based on the measured data, the sources of the excessive specific humidity in the interior are identified and recommendations for charnel house restoration are formulated.