40% is low, Bill, anywhere East of the Mississippi. But you guys make raisins out of grapes out there on the left coast, so I can see how that might seem high.

Back to woodworking, 40% RH is about 7% EMC. That's right in the middle of the target used by many folks who KD wood, including me. But the typical RH is higher than that for most of the year here in the East. KD wood in my storage shed often is 9 - 10% MC. I bring it into my shop and let equilibrate, but it won't come down at all in the summer when the RH in my shop is 50 - 60% (that must seem like a shower to you). In the winter, though my house will go down to 25% in really cold weather if I don't use a humidifier, which I do to keep it at 35 - 40%. If I build in the winter it's going to go up in the summer. Nothing new here, it has been going on as long as people have been using wood to build things. But you have to design and build to accommodate the seasonal changes in dimensions or things can go south. Close fitting drawers are a lesson in wood technology.

John