If you feel that the humidity in your home is high or you know for certain
as you have used hygrometers to check, there are some effective measures you
can take to reduce it.
High humidity is generally considered to be above
60%. In most homes the aim is to have humidity at a healthy level or
40-50%.
Humidity that is too high is damaging to our health and the fabric of our homes so it is very important to address it.
Some Of The Indicators Of High Humidity Are:-
-
Visible mould around windows, in corners and behind furniture
-
Visible mildew which may be white , green or black
-
Peeling wallpaper or peeling bubbling paint
-
Walls that feel damp or wet to the touch or where you can see damp areas
with colour discolouration on walls.
-
Black mould
-
Windows that are dripping with water or have condensation, we frequently
had this occur in our home before we took measures
-
A muggy feel to the air. We did sometimes experince this.
-
A damp smell in your home
-
Wooden furniture or flooring that is warping or in the case of floors a
squeaky floorboard or two.
-
Signs of pest activity or seeing the pests themselves as creatures like
silverfish love humid environments
-
Clothes that feel damp when you take them out the wardrobe or draws
-
Anyone in the house who starts developing typical allergy symptoms-
coughing, sneezing, skin rash - as it may be a dust mite allergy. Dust
mites thrive in humid conditions and love to live in mattresses, carpets,
rugs, sofas and curtains and even clothes. My husband started to develop
these allergic symptoms.
-
You have a hygrometer to measure humidity and it is consistently showing
above 60% humidity. Once we bought a hygrometer it showed that we were
living in humidity generally between 55% to 75% depending on the room, so
it was too high.
- I reviewed hygrometers in my previous
article Reviewing The Benefits Of A Home Hygrometer To Monitor Humidity
Risk Factors For High Humidity
-
You dry wet washing in your home on an airer or over a radiator. This was
a big issue for us as from November to March there are few days when i can
get washing out on the line in the garden. I don't like running a tumble
dryer very often as it is incredibly expensive, so indoor drying was the
only option. I never dried over a radiator as I knew that heavily
contributed to the central heating needing to work harder, but we did use
an airer frequently.
-
You don't put the heating on much or at all. This was another issue for
us, since the cost of energy has become significantly more expensive we do
try to put the heating on for only short periods at key times for example
before going for baths or showers and first thing in the morning when the
house is often cold down to 12-14 degrees in winter.
-
You close off some rooms in your home and do not heat them. We don't do
this as I think it just makes matters worse, but we do know many people
who do.
-
You rarely open windows or have extractor fans on. We don't have
extractor fans but every morning that it is not raining or snowing we open
the windows in all rooms for a minimum of 10 minutes, longer if possible
without allowing the house to get too cold.
-
You have a naturally humid home like ours with solid brick walls and
double glazing
-
You live in a humid climate either at particular seasons or year
round
Measures You Can Take To Reduce Humidity.
1. When cooking
cover pots and pans with lids, use an extractor fan or open a window for a
during and after cooking. We do cover pans with lids and always have a
window open unless it is blowing a gale or heavy driving rain.
2. Showers. When showering keep the bathroom door closed and the
extractor fan on or open a window during and for a while afterwards, at
least 10 minutes, to allow steam to escape outside. We always do this to
prevent steam from escaping into the rest of the house.
3.Open windows. On days it is not raining open the windows for
a while, even 10 minutes helps to circulate fresh air. I was raised to do
this, even in freezing cold days i recall my parents going around opening
all the windows to let stale air out and fresh air in and I have continued
that practice.
4.Trickle vents. If possible it is useful to install trickle
vents on air bricks to improve the flow of air
5.Seal any leaks or gaps around windows and doors. This was more of
an issue for us before we installed double glazed doors which have solved
that problem. If you suspect any roof issues get a reputable company to check your roof
for any leaks and if so have them fixed. Keep guttering clean and free from
debris and check downpipes are working well.
6. Buy passive moisture-absorbing materials like silica gel or baking
soda.
I have found that these do not make a huge difference in bigger rooms but
can be more effective in smaller spaces, cupboards and wardrobes. We have
them in smaller spaces and understairs cupboards where we cant use a
dehumidifyer.
16 Pack Moisture Absorbers, 10.5 OZ Humidity Absorber BucketCheck Price
7. Houseplants including the beautiful peace lily and easy to care for
spider plant.
I have read the claims that these plants can help to naturally absorb water thus
helping with high humidity. However it is important not to overwater
houseplants as otherwise the standing excess water will only
contribute to raise humidity. We have both these plants in our home. I
cannot tell how much direct influence they have on our humidity levels but
they are lovely plants and we are happy to have them. I would not however, rely on houseplants to lower humidity. Do be aware that many
houseplants contribute to humidity levels though. I still love them in our
home.
8. When washing clothes run them through an additional spin cycle
appropriate to the clothing, to squeeze out a little more water before drying
in an airer inside. This can make a surprising difference to how damp they
come out of the machine. If you can get them outside on the line for a while, or can afford to run the dryer for 10-20 minutes that too will help.
9. Buy an air conditioner.
If humidity is an issue in warmer months an air conditioner may
help. We don't have an air conditioner so I can't comment how effective it
is, but if you have one it would be worth testing running it with a
hygrometer in the same room to see how it affects humidity levels.
10. Buy a Dehumidifier
To be fair if you have consistent high humidity in your home the most
effective method is to buy a dehumidifier or even two depending on the size
and layout of your home. A dehumidifier actively takes moisture out of the
room thus combatting the source of the problem. In our home we do all the
measures, but the dehumidifier is the one that made the most significant
difference and fairly quickly. We have one upstairs and one downstairs. We
have two large dessicant dehumidifiers and a small thermo electric one,
which suits us as they can still operate in lower temperatures and meet our
laundry and home needs. We find the smaller one is good for small rooms or
for maintaining a humidity level though not quite as powerful at brining the
level down. There are also compressor dehumidifiers. These machines are
available in different sizes and powers for different needs. It is important
to research carefully the one that will suit your home and
needs.
Here are just two examples of dehumidifiers
VINBERG DEHUMIDIFIERCheck Price Onsekin DehumidifierCheck Price
When we first started using the dehumidifiers the water container filled up
very quickly and we would need to empty it several times a day. At first the
hygrometer showed that the machine was doing its work and brought down the
humidity , but when we stopped using it for a few hours, the humidity rose
again.
After a few weeks we noted we did not need to empty it so often and
that the machine brought that humidity down and it did not rise again so
fast. I think this is because we had extracted the deeper levels of moisture
that was likely in the mattress, sofas and curtains.
Now we can have them on a lower power setting and they still keep the rooms
to humidity 40-50% humidity and fairly stable at that which is about right
for us and our home.
So in our experience anyway if you do have high humidity your dehumidifier
will need to work hard at first and you may need to empty it more often and
keep it on for longer with the humidity up and down a bit. However, over
time this will settle and you may be able to operate the dehumidifier for
longer without needing to empty and on a more lower power maintenance level.
The exception to this of course is when drying laundry. We put our clothes
on an airer and place the dehumidifier nearby and always on "Laundry mode"
in a closed room. It is important to keep clothes well spaced out on the
airer to allow airflow. I find with our more powerful machine, that I
can mostly dry damp clothes overnight on a good laundry mode setting.
It is important to close windows when using a dehumidifier as otherwise
your machine will be working hard to dehumidify the world !
When we bought a hygrometer our dehumidifying efforts were much more
effective, as we then knew which areas and rooms to target to lower
humidity. So I would recommend buying at least one hygrometer.
If you would like to learn more about them please read my article
Reviewing The Benefits Of A Home Hygrometer To Monitor Humidity
So from my experience the most effective way to deal with a home that has
too high humidity is to do small simple measures like keep the shower or
bathroom door closed when taking a shower, cover pans when cooking , make
sure there is good ventilation, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Let
fresh air in every day it is not raining or blowing gale, use a
hygrometer so that you know your humidity and use a
dehumidifier.
I have to say that buying our dehumidifiers was the best thing we did as our home is now so much more comfortable, clean air, no condensation on the windows, no damp and my husbands allergic reactions have ceased completely.
This article has all been about what measures to take if your home has high
humidity. If however you have low humidity and the air in your home is too
dry you may like to take a look at my friends article The Best Ultrasonic Humidifier: Ultra Quiet, Easy to Clean & Fill by Margaret Schindel.
Reviewing The Benefits Of A Home Hygrometer To Monitor Humidity
Read More Reviews By Raintree Annie
Read More Product Reviews on ReviewThisProducts.com
Reviewing Ten Effective Ways To Reduce High Humidity In The Home.
By Raintree Annie
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