Dealing with high humidity in your home can be uncomfortable. You’re feeling hot, sweaty, and all around miserable when there’s too much humidity in your house. But, there’s more risk behind it than just feeling uneasy. If your home is too humid and has a higher moisture level, it can bring danger to your property, including its condition, surfaces, and structure.
Excessive humidity doesn’t only cause damage to your home. It is also highly susceptible to pollutants and allergens such as mildew, mold, and dust mites. All of these factors may cause various conditions for your lungs, much worse if you’re suffering from allergies, asthma, and other existing pulmonary illness. The ideal humidity levels for indoors should be between 30%-50% only.
Here’s a list of simple ways and more comprehensive solutions on how to manage indoor humidity to meet the maximum comfort in your home.
Fix Leaking Pipes
The last thing you want to do when you try to diminish indoor humidity is to add more moisture. Leaking faucets and pipes are also responsible for that. Fix any leaks so that there’s no more moisture adding up to your home by wrapping exposed pipes with insulators.
One of the inexpensive ways to insulate your pipes is to use a few pool noodles usually used for swimming. Cut them vertically, or you can also curve them by cutting them in pieces and fit them over the pipes. This technique is much less expensive than buying pipe sleeves. You can secure it with duct tape if necessary.
You will know if you have pipe or faucet leaks if there’s stained drywall, wet spots, and you have irregular water bills.
Utilize Your Air Conditioner
When the weather is warm enough outside, your air conditioner is a great help to reduce humidity level inside your house, because it brings cooler air while it removes warm and humid air. Keep humidity under control by setting your AC to several degrees lower, and if your home gets too cold, you can already raise its temperature a little. Don’t forget to change the filter regularly.
Use Dehumidifiers
If you live in an older, less ventilated place, and maintaining your humidity has been an issue, the most surefire way to lessen indoor humidity is to use dehumidifiers. A dehumidifier is usually placed in the basement since it is underground and doesn’t get a lot of warmth. It can also fit inside of your furnace air handler. Your dehumidifier gets rid of the moisture from the air passing through it, which makes the air dry and cool as it reaches you.
It works best if you close all the doors and windows. To make sure there’s proper circulation, it should be placed away from furniture and walls. Another good thing about using a dehumidifier is that you don’t have to use your AC that much, as it helps lower humidity levels, which means you won’t spend a lot of money on cooling bills.
Get a Humidifier
If dehumidifiers are necessary during summer months, you must also use humidifiers during the late fall, winter, and start of spring since the air is void of moisture during these seasons. It’s especially true if your house has an oil or wood furnace.
Using a humidifier that can be regulated will help you achieve the maximum comfort you can have in your home. You can read more information on Humidifier Geek Guide to know more about what’s the best humidifier you should get.
Upgrade Your Home’s Ventilation
Having proper ventilation in your house can help control the moisture levels in the air. Keep your windows and doors tightly shut if the humidity outside is very high, and make use of mechanical ventilation from the HVAC system that you have so that it can help circulate air inside your house.
Ensure that your bathroom, stove, and dryer hood exhaust vents are working perfectly and routed to your house’s exterior. These ventilation systems work to draw out moisture when you are showering, cooking, or doing the laundry. All of them should lead outside, or else they will dispose of removed moisture back inside the house.
If you fail to control the moisture level from your family’s regular activities, it will cause the growth of mold in your bathroom and kitchen, on your ceilings, inside the closets, or other spots where it is dark, and there’s poor ventilation.
Takeaway
Making sure that your house is inviting and comfortable is a topmost priority. Having the perfect furniture, ambiance, and lighting is key, but have you ever considered how the levels of your humidity affect your daily lives?
Too much moisture in the air can attract a breeding ground for dust mites, mold, and other unwelcome pathogens. You can control humidity levels in your home in several ways including fixing leaking pipes, utilizing the air conditioner and humidifier, and fixing major moisture problems.
