11 Best Ways to Reduce High Humidity in Home
High indoor humidity can lead to discomfort, mold growth, respiratory problems, and structural damage, while the ideal indoor humidity level during summer ranges between 30-50%. Learning how to reduce the humidity in your home is essential for maintaining a healthy and comfortable living environment.
In this article, we’ll explore 21 ways to decrease house humidity, why it’s important to keep your home’s humidity levels balanced, and how to monitor and adjust these levels for optimal comfort and health.
Visual Indicators Of High Humidity in Home
- Signs of High Humidity: You might notice condensation on windows, musty odors, or visible mold growth on surfaces. These are clear indicators that the indoor humidity levels might be too high.
- Recommended Humidity Levels: Maintaining indoor humidity levels between 30% and 50% is generally advised to balance comfort and health.
Reduce the Indoor Humidity: 11 Simple Ways to Follow!
When you have decided to keep your house’s interiors comfortable and cool during the summers, the pointers mentioned in this section can help you do that:
1. Rehome the Indoor Plants
Every homeowner likes to have indoor plants since they not only improve the home’s appearance but will also decrease moisture levels. Plants can easily emit moisture into the air inside. This contributes to home humidity. You can place the houseplants on the porch for a long weekend.
2. Opt for a Dehumidifier
Another method to lower the humidity in house is by employing a dehumidifier. This can help stop the moisture present in the air and will make the indoors cooler. You should get a dehumidifier, which is incorporated into the standalone devices or HVAC system, which will help lower the humidity for the entire house.
If the humidity inside the residence increases greatly and you don’t have a dehumidifier, you can also choose the chemical option. There are many substances like cat litter, rock salt, etc, which can eliminate the moisture of the indoor air.
3. Dry All Your Clothes Outside
The majority of homeowners place all their clothes in the dryer. During the winter, people utilize the indoor dryer racks to dry off all their clothes. However, during the summers, drying all the damp clothes inside the house will increase the indoor humidity.
The best option here is to dry all your clothes outdoors on the clothesline or drying rack. But before doing so, you should check the neighbourhoods. There might be some laws or restrictions. That way, you will not experience any unwanted legal problems.
4. Repair All the Leaking Pipes
You surely don’t wish to add more moisture when you’re planning to lower the humidity in house. This is what exactly all the leaking faucets and pipes do. You must repair/replace all the leaks that you find across your residence.
Wrap up the leaking pipes with insulators, which will prevent the condensation from forming. Some of the best ways you can spot leaks are when you have irregular water bills, wet spots, and stained drywall.
5. Improve the Home’s Ventilation
When it comes to ventilating the house, you should do so by turning on the exhaust fan. Doing so will get rid of the humid air present inside the house and reduce the indoor humidity levels.
Besides that, if you have an AC unit and a furnace, make sure to clean their filters periodically so that the airflow keeps running at an excellent pace. However, if the humidity’s source is from the rain in the summer, letting in outdoor air is not a great idea.
6. Improve the Ventilation in the Crawlspace
Crawlspaces can instantly collect moisture when it’s not ventilated correctly. According to the style of the house, the cellar might be totally enclosed, which assists in securing the moisture inside.
You can also put in a wall vent to increase ventilation in the crawlspace and stop moisture from getting stuck there. Furthermore, adding a ventilation system can lower the humidity in home during the summertime.
7. Prevent the Seepage
Keeping the gutters in excellent condition will redirect the water away from the residential property. However, if there is a seepage, it might occur because of landscaping problems or because the foundation has cracked.
All homeowners need to do is prevent seepage from occurring to lessen the humidity levels inside. The best way to get this done is by slanting the landscaping away from your house, opting for outdoor waterproofing and patching up all cracks on the foundation.
8. Cover Up the Pots When You Cook
The indoor humidity can increase because of a diverse range of sources, and one of them is “cooking.” The boiling water in the pots and the moisture that gets released into the indoor air when you fry food items can greatly increase indoor moisture levels.
However, you can lessen the humidity level by covering up the cooking pans and pots. By doing so, it will prevent moisture from getting out and also enable you to cook quickly.
9. Utilize Charcoal Briquettes
These days, people don’t use the charcoal briquettes for barbecues. They are also used as a dehumidification tool. This is not a joke! It does work! To use the charcoal briquettes, you have to place a few of them in a “container” – a can or a small basket will surely work.
The charcoal is pretty absorbent, and it will instantly suck in the moisture from the indoor air. To keep using charcoal, make sure to replace it every 2 months to 3 months.
10. Keep All the Surfaces Completely Dry
It’s crucial to wipe the surfaces of your washroom and kitchen after using it to stop the evaporating water from mixing with the indoor air. Wet towels and floor mats should be properly dried and washed to prevent them from becoming the actual source of indoor humidity levels.
11. Fill Up a Bowl with Baking Soda
In an empty bowl, add baking soda to it. After that, place the bowl in a spot where you’d like to minimize the moisture level. Baking soda will easily absorb the humidity present in the indoor air. You will know that the humidity levels decrease when baking soda becomes harder. When it becomes way too hard, remove it and replace it with new baking soda.
Importance Of Having Balanced House Humidity
Maintaining balanced humidity levels in your home is crucial for both health and structural integrity. Here’s why:
- Health and Comfort: Ideal humidity levels range from 30% to 50% depending on the season, ensuring comfort and health. In winter, keeping humidity between 30% and 40% prevents dry skin and respiratory issues, while in summer, levels between 40% and 50% inhibit the growth of mold and dust mites, which can cause health problems.
- Structural Integrity: Excessive humidity can lead to serious damage to your home. Persistent high humidity can cause moisture accumulation on windows, signaling overly high humidistat settings. This excess moisture can damage walls and other structural components over time. Proper ventilation is essential to prevent these issues and maintain healthy humidity levels.
- Temperature and Health Impact: The right humidity level helps maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. Extremely high or low temperatures, coupled with incorrect humidity, can cause physical stress, especially in individuals with chronic health conditions or the elderly.
By understanding and controlling indoor humidity, you can create a healthier living environment and protect your home from potential damage.
Conclusion
If there is an increase in indoor humidity levels, it can become challenging to live peacefully. The best thing you can do to lower the humidity in house is to follow the pointers mentioned in this content.
They are highly effective, and it’s guaranteed that they will help lessen the moisture levels inside your residence. However, if the indoor humidity has increased because of the HVAC system, you must contact the specialists from Smile HVAC to resolve the problem.
As a top HVAC firm, we can substitute, clean, and fix HVAC unit parts to lower moisture levels. We have assisted several homeowners, and each one was fully delighted with our assistance.
Are you curious to gain more information about us? Please contact us at (+1) 437-777-4555, and also mail us your issues to [email protected]. But hey, customer! Don’t forget to check out our authorized site, https://smilehvac.ca, too.
FAQ
What causes high indoor humidity?
There can be many reasons for the high humidity in the house. Some of the major reasons for high humidity in the house are cooking, heaters, poor insulation, water leaks, breathing, the weather outside, poor air conditioner, etc.
How do you dehumidify a room naturally?
There can be many ways to dehumidify a room naturally. Some of the wats are improving insulation, getting a dehumidifier, using charcoal, and others.
Is 70 humidity in a house too high?
70 humidity is too high and can result in serious damage to the property. 30-60% is the best range to keep the humidity.
What removes moisture from a room?
Air conditioners and dehumidifiers can be a great way to get rid of the humidity in the house.
What is the best thing to absorb moisture?
Silica Gel, calcium chloride, clay, and coal are a few of the substances which can absorb moisture from your house.
