When it is warm, and you are looking for an effective yet inexpensive way to reduce humidity, ceiling fans are a straightforward solution. When you turn on a ceiling fan, the breeze evaporates excess moisture, which makes you feel cooler.
Turn on the ceiling fans. Keeping the air moving is an essential part of keeping excessive moisture away. Using ceiling fans, pedestal fans and other air-moving appliances can make a big difference and suck excess moisture out of the indoor air. Check the exhaust fans in your attic, kitchen and bathroom.
While fans may help disperse pockets of high humidity, they do not actually reduce the amount of water vapor found in the greenhouse. In a saturated environment, with 100% relative humidity, fans will not reduce the humidity level.
Lowering the fan speed is one way to control a large amount of interior humidity. A colder evaporator coil can remove more moisture from the air, but it is important that the evaporator coil doesn't freeze.
Use a Rock Salt Dehumidifier
Because rock salt is hygroscopic it absorbs moisture from the air. If your plan is to get rid of the humidity in a damp basement, start with a 50-pound bag of sodium chloride to make your rock salt dehumidifier. These can be found at most big box hardware stores.
Since our bodies release over half a liter of fluid at night, the humidity in the room also increases while we sleep. Especially during the summer months, the indoor climate can quickly become unstable because the more the air warms up, the more moisture it can absorb.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends that relative humidity indoors should be maintained at 40-70%, while other experts recommend that the range should be 30-60%. Most people find 30-60% most comfortable and this is the level that Airthings recommends.
One of the easiest ways to address this annoying issue is to improve ventilation in your home. Make sure your HVAC system is on, even if you don't need to turn on the heat just yet. Running the fan helps circulate fresh air in and flush stale air out while keeping moisture levels comfortable.
The ideal relative humidity for health and comfort is somewhere between 30-50% humidity, according to the Mayo Clinic. This means that the air holds between 30-50% of the maximum amount of moisture it can contain.
High humidity in a house can be caused by many things, but the biggest reason is poor ventilation—in other words, air isn't being circulated properly, which causes the air in your house to become stagnant and humid. The other major reason? Too much air exchange with the outside.
Too much humidity can cause condensation on windows, wet stains on walls and ceilings, moldy bathrooms, musty odor, and/or clammy feel to the air. Rot and structural damage can also result from extended periods of high humidity in your home. And, especially in the South, it can draw pests.
While damp cannot be reduced by opening windows, it can help to reduce the humidity levels in your property to make sure that condensation is not a common occurrence.
Experts generally agree that the ideal indoor humidity levels for comfort and for avoiding health effects are between 35 and 60 percent. When you're spending time in a home or workplace with humidity levels in excess of 60 percent, it's increasingly likely that you will experience certain health issues.
6. How long will it take to get the moisture under control? As long as the dehumidifier you choose is large enough for the area it is working in, and there are no specific damp problems, then a dehumidifier will normally reduce the humidity to the chosen level within a few days to a week.
Why Is My House So Humid? Several factors contribute to the humidity levels within a home such as the design, construction and materials, vapor retarder use, insulation, and how airtight the property is. Of course, the surrounding climate and temperature also have a direct effect on humidity.
The most popular DIY dehumidifier is the one that works the best—rock salt. Rock salt naturally absorbs moisture out of the air, making it a great choice to use as a dehumidifier.
A home should have a relative humidity of 30% to 60%. Above 60% and you have what's considered “high” humidity. Besides being less comfortable, high humidity causes a host of other problems in your home, including: Growth of fungus and mold in various parts of the home.
Contrary to popular belief, heating the air actually lowers the relative humidity. This is because, as the temperature of the air increases, the air can hold more molecules, and its relative humidity goes down. The warmer the air, the greater its capacity to hold water.
Which one should I buy? The humidity in most homes is between 30% and 50%. If your home is above 50% humidity then a dehumidifier is needed. However, if humidity levels are below 30%, a humidifier is needed.
During cold winter months, the air in your home is usually dry, which means a dehumidifier is not necessary. In fact, dehumidifiers actually work most efficiently in warm temperatures and decrease in efficiency as the temperature cools.