Why Humidity In The House Is Relevant For Comfort
Why Humidity In The House Is Relevant For Comfort
Humidity in the house is a crucial element of comfort. It can make or break your home, and affect everyone’s health and wellbeing. While relative humidity varies with the weather, ideal indoor humidity is between 45-55%. Anything above this is considered high humidity, and comes with a host of disadvantages for your home and family.
Humidity Levels
During hot weather, humidity can cause problems with condensation on windows and wet stains on walls and ceilings. It can also contribute to mold growth and rot in your home. In addition, high humidity levels can cause the air to feel clammy or sticky. Keeping a hygrometer in your house to monitor the humidity is an easy way to ensure that you’re getting the right amount of moisture in your home. Ideally, the humidity level in your home should be between 30-40% during the summer months and 40-60 percent during the winter. However, this number is a personal preference and depends on a variety of factors, including the weather outside, home design, and personal comfort.
Health Issues
You might not be aware of it, but the humidity in your home has a big impact on your health. It can cause you to feel hotter and stickier, make it more difficult for you to get a good night’s sleep, and even damage your wood floors and furniture. Moreover, high indoor humidity can intensify allergens like mold, mildew and dust mites, which are more likely to exacerbate allergies, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses. It can also increase the level of airborne chemicals and irritants that can lead to physical ailments like headaches, fever, fatigue, and dizziness.
Damage To Furniture
If you’re a fan of wood furniture, you know that maintaining consistent humidity is crucial for preventing damage. Large shifts in humidity are a common cause of cracking or splitting in solid wood furniture. Wood is porous, so it easily absorbs water and expands when humidity levels rise or shrink when it goes down. This can lead to warping or creaking, as well as faulty joints and structural flaws in wood furnishings. Humidity issues are particularly problematic with forced air heating systems, which dry out the home in the winter and reduce humidity levels in the summer.
Energy Costs
Keeping the right level of humidity in the home is vital for optimal comfort and health, as well as for energy savings. Indoor humidity is affected by many factors, including design and construction, vapor retarder use, insulation, air leakage and how well a house is air sealed. Outdoor temperatures are also important. If the outside air is cool and moist, that will also contribute to high humidity levels in the home. When the air is humid, your cooling equipment has to work harder to remove the moisture to keep the indoor temperature at a comfortable level. This can result in higher energy bills during these times. The good news is, there are some simple solutions that can make the difference in your energy costs and comfort. A local JMB A/C & Heating LLC Pro can help you understand the causes of your humidity problems and recommend a couple of simple steps you can take to reduce humidity levels in your home.
Categorised in: Humidity, Indoor Air Quality