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High humidity levels over prolonged periods will cause mildew and mold growth and can result in serious health issues. Humid air helps dust mites and allergens thrive and reduces the life of your AC unit filters. Here’s how to combat excessive indoor humidity and maintain ideal levels. If your home is only a few decades old, you likely have a kitchen hood vent fan and at least one bathroom or utility room exhaust fan.
Simple Things to Do to Lower Moisture
To prevent any of these worrying problems from occurring, householders need to ensure the humidity levels in their homes remain at a safe level. Humidity levels can be measured as ‘Relative Humidity’ — or 'rh'. You might not realise it, but the humidity levels in your house can actually cause all kinds of unwelcome issues, such as window condensation and damp. Humidity levels can be affected by simple activities that take place in a household every day. Cooking and running the dishwasher can add more water vapor to the air in the kitchen. Other times, no A/C will be enough for a very humid home, and you’ll want to supplement it with a whole-house dehumidifier.
Problems Caused by Low Indoor Humidity Levels
Individuals with allergies or asthma should consult a doctor before making significant changes and get professional advice. Normal humidity levels in the home should fall between 30 to 50 percent. The excess moisture seeps into the walls, floors, and ceilings, creating ideal living conditions for dust mists, mold, and mildew.
Do fans reduce humidity?
While a whole-house dehumidifier can be ducted into your HVAC system or standalone, a whole-home humidifier will always be ducted directly into your system. When the fan in your furnace unit turns on (which also moves air for the air conditioner), it will spread moisture throughout the home to keep it from being dry. There’s an upfront cost to a whole-home dehumidifier, and some people struggle to see the benefit. But if humidity is an issue, you’re gambling with your health and comfort, and also risking having to have mold removal down the road. If you’re concerned about any of these, the risk isn’t worth it. Conversely, studies have shown that many viruses stay alive in the air much longer at humidity levels below about 40%.
Homeowners: What is the humidity level in your house?
Maintaining ideal indoor humidity levels is essential for comfort, health, and safety. Your HVAC system plays a crucial role in humidity control, so your professional heating and air conditioning service provider is an excellent resource for help. If you’re unsure, we reviewed the best HVAC companies to help. Every home is different, but a level between 30 and 40 per cent humidity is typically ideal for keeping your home warm and comfortable in the winter, without leaving condensation on the windows.
Sometimes, buying a humidifier or dehumidifier doesn't solve the problem for various reasons. Especially in winter, when cooling temperatures lead to drier air indoors and out, your nose may feel a bit stuffy. Your cuticles may crack, your lips may bleed, your eyes may burn.
A humidistat is a device specifically designed to monitor humidity levels in a space. It can be tricky to determine if home issues are due to high or low humidity levels. This is why it’s important to find an experienced IAQ expert who can help determine the problem and advise on the best system for your home. If the humidity in your house is too high, consider using a whole-home dehumidifier. Consumer Reports tests dehumidifiers in three sizes, based on the amount of moisture they remove from the air.
There is an ideal range.
Whether you opt for single-room appliances or a whole-home system, humidifiers increase moisture levels in the air, making the room feel warmer and your skin feel more hydrated. The right conditions can help you avoid indoor mold and mildew growth, skin and allergy flare-ups, and poor air quality overall. “For homes with low humidity, homeowners often experience dry noses and are at a higher risk of getting sick more often. In their homes, wood will crack more easily and they may experience a lot of static,” says Kevin Eddingfield, a top Thumbtack Pro Advisor.
The Ideal Humidity Level for Your House - Martha Stewart
The Ideal Humidity Level for Your House.
Posted: Wed, 04 Aug 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]
But the range of options available to you with air conditioning units means you have different ways to tackle the same problem. In practice, your 72-degree home could easily be uncomfortably hot with humidity that’s too high, just as it can be too cold in the wintertime if you have dry air. Temperature is what we think of when we consider indoor comfort, but humidity levels matter almost as much.
The signs of high humidity in the home include a musty smell, condensation on your windows, mold growth, and peeling paint. This method won’t provide you with an accurate moisture reading, but it will help you determine whether you’ll need to investigate the situation further. If condensation forms on the outside of the glass, it could mean you have too much moisture in your home.
Excessively dry air, at 5 percent humidity or less, can also cause wallpaper to peel away and wood furniture and building materials to shrink, which can lead to warping or cracking. Having a green thumb is a great way to add moisture to your home’s air. The average houseplant is quite generous, only retaining about 3% of the moisture it receives while releasing the remaining 97% back into the air. Homeowners can typically expect to spend between $15 and $50 for a spider plant.
“Investigate if moisture is entering your home from an outside source through cracks,” Kollontai says. You may need the help of a professional to redirect it and to seal any foundation cracks, but it’s worth the expense to reduce the moisture in your house and the harm it may cause. The DOE says that condensation can occur when there’s a difference between the temperature of your water pipes and the humid air in your home.
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