Increased humidity inside your home is quite a miserable feeling. As a homeowner, you may want to find ways how to reduce humidity levels inside your living space. We've gathered some information regarding humidity that may help you with this icky situation!
Opening windows may affect the humidity levels inside your home. Here are some instances where open windows affect the humidity levels:
- During winter, opening your windows will reduce humidity because the cold, dry breeze will enter your home.
- On the other hand, opening windows in the summer will increase the humidity levels and will make your room warmer.
- If your home is more humid than the outside weather, opening windows can reduce the humidity inside your house.
It is not uncommon for most states to feel humid during the warmer months. All of us have experienced dealing with the hot and icky feeling that is associated with having humid weather. Now, how do we exactly deal with this kind of situation?
Does Opening The Windows Affect Humidity?
It is significant to know that opening your windows can affect the humidity level inside your home. Before doing so, you have to ask yourself a few questions:
- Are you living in an area where humidity is high or low?
- Is the outside more humid than the inside of your room?
- Are there any other alternatives?
The simplest way to reduce the hot and sticky feeling of being inside a room with high humidity levels is by opening your windows. During warmer weather, making sure your windows are open is a good way to reduce humidity because doing so results in better air circulation in your living areas.
It will refresh the room since the warm and damp air will be redirected outside. However, keep in mind that this solution only works best if the outside weather is less humid than inside your home. Check the weather and then open your windows for a few hours.
When to Open Windows Based on Humidity Levels
Before we delve deep into the topic, we must first understand the dew point. It is the temperature to which the air needs to be cooled to in order to reach a relative humidity of 100% (a measure of water vapor in the air).
By achieving this, the air is no longer able to hold more water in the gas form. This water would then be released through condensation, such as rain.
The thing you have to do is to check the outdoor dew point. Before you open your windows, the dew point should be below 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Lesser than this temperature is also ideal. You can check your weather phone app to know the dew point in your area.
How to reduce humidity levels inside the house?
- One way to reduce humidity is by avoiding taking showers during the hottest part of the day because the humidity and moisture coming from your bathroom can quickly spread to the other rooms in your home. If you really want to bathe, do so quickly.
- Inspect your house if it has leaky pipes. Make sure your pipes are repaired immediately to avoid outside humidity from creeping to the inside of your living space.
- Never forget to use the exhaust fans whenever you are cooking. This ensures that there is no moisture build-up inside your kitchen.
- Keeping your gutters clean and directing the downspout away from your home can avert water leaks. These leaks may cause the humidity level to rise.
- Another way you can do to lower humidity is to clean the filters of your air conditioning unit. Ideally, regularly replace the air filters. Do not forget, when changing your filters, to buy the correct type of filter. By doing this, your AC will work to its full potential.
- A more natural response to this situation is by placing a bowl filled with baking soda, charcoal, salt, rock, or detergent in different parts of your home. These objects will absorb moisture in the air. Do not forget! You will have to change and replace them every two or three days with fresh ones.
- If you have plants inside your home, it is better to place them outside the house or in one area inside. Plants usually release moisture into the air, which affects the humidity levels.
- If you own several standalone fans, you can run them in several rooms so that air can circulate better.
Does opening the windows in the summer increase humidity?
As we have said earlier, this only happens if the outside is more humid than inside your home. Most people tend to open the window during hot summer days without checking if the humidity level is too high. This action is a common mistake.
We should be aware that when the outdoor weather is hot, the air is more humid. This happens because water evaporates much faster in intensely hot weather. Due to this, water vapor is twice as much which is why you feel too hot and sticky.
More humid on the east coast than on the west
Still, the humidity level inside your house varies depending on the climate of the area you live in. If you are living on the eastern coast, be ready to feel a more humid atmosphere. The dew point temperatures are much higher than on the west coast. This is because the east wind encounters the mountains in the west, forcing the air to rise over them.
When the air rises, it cools. Cool air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. That is why places like San Francisco up to Seattle usually have more rainfall. And this is also the reason why it is much cooler in the west than in the east.
Does opening windows in winter increase humidity?
Throughout the winter, humidity levels drop off at least 25 to 35 percent. Keeping your home humid is more difficult because of the cold climate. Some people think the furnace dries out humidity; however, that is not the case. Cool air is already dry so it becomes drier as it finds its way through your home.
Opening your windows in the winter will not make your living area more humid. It actually lowers humidity because the cold breeze will make it harder for your heat pumps to run. It would be twice as much work for your heating system.
The trouble with the winter season is that it is hard to keep humidity levels low enough so that condensation would not occur.
How to increase humidity indoors in the winter?
Using a humidifier is the easiest way you can increase the humidity levels and add moisture inside your home. However, there are several other options you can use. To add moisture into your living space, you can try to do the following:
- Arranging indoor plants is the most natural way of raising the humidity levels inside your home because they undergo respiration and photosynthesis.
- Another technique you can do is to hang your laundry. It will not only add moisture, but you will also save energy costs because of decreased dryer uses.
- You can also let shower steam spread inside your living areas by opening the bathroom door.
- Boiling water and cooking using the stovetop will release steam into the air, making it a little bit humid inside your home.
Types of Humidifiers
Warm Mist Humidifiers (Steam Vaporizers)
This type of humidifier is using boiling water to increase the moisture in your room. It is also the best option for people who have irritated throat or nasal congestion.
Cool Mist Humidifiers
- Evaporative - As the name suggests, evaporative humidifiers add moisture to the room by using the same process as evaporation. The fan of this humidifier pulls in air and blows it off through a filter at the bottom of the humidifier. This process results in the evaporation of the water, turning it into vapor and then blowing it back into the room.
- Ultrasonic - Ultrasonic humidifiers utilize high-frequency sound vibrations to make water vapor that is blown back into the room. This humidifier uses sound vibrations rather than a fan which is why it is quieter than those that operate with a fan.
- Impeller - The impeller is equipped with a rotating disk to hurl water onto a diffuser which then turns water into tiny droplets. These droplets are expelled back into the air.
Check out this Elechomes warm and cool mist humidifier at Amazon.
In Closing
Increased humidity makes you feel hot and sticky. Keep in mind these simple ideas on how to dehumidify and humidify your living space. It will not only help you save energy, but it will also keep your home a cozier place.
If you have found this article informative, check out these other helpful articles:
"Ceiling Fan Not Working On All Speeds - What To Do"
"Can You Use An Air Purifier and Humidifier Together?"