Humidity At Home

Humidity is an important thing to consider no matter where you live, as excess moisture, or too little moisture in the home can cause a long list of problems starting with your HVAC, and ending with your body. In Minnesota, the humidity is a part of life many people can’t spare to overlook. In winter, low moisture in the air at home can lead to trouble breathing, cracked and dry skin, warping wood and even peeling paint. Your home should have humidity levels around 30-45% in the summer, and far less than that in the winter coming in somewhere below 40%.

The easiest way to control the humidity in your home is to install systems that control it, such as a dehumidifier or a humidifier that functions with the HVAC system. These systems provide a sure-fire way of keeping the humidity where you prefer it, but they can get expensive. So, if you’re not sure you are ready to commit to an expensive equipment upgrade, there are numerous other ways you can raise or lower the temperature of your home without spending the
hard-earned money.

If your home is too dry, the following tips can help improve your time spent at home:
● Single space humidifiers are great ways to adjust the humidity in rooms you are going to be frequenting. If you can’t find a small humidifier, you can also invest in cool steam machines, or vaporizers.
● Boiling water or cooking inside are great ways to release moisture in your home for short periods of time.
● Air drying your clothes indoors also releases humidity that would otherwise be vented outside by your dryer. If you remove the vent and recirculate the air inside your home, you can skip the step of hanging the clothes inside and allow the warm humid air to circulate your space instead.
● Plants are another great way to raise the humidity inside while also improving the look and feel of your space.
If your home is too humid, you can try some of the following options:
● Avoid using your appliances, such as the oven, washing machine, or dryer. All of these appliances release humidity into the air. In the summer, hang drying your clothes outside, and grilling will save you the extra heat inside your home.
● Run your AC or heat. By using these two, you can dry out the air in your home by forcing air to be recycled.
● Clean out the filters of your HVAC. When these begin to clog, the air becomes stagnant and has more difficulty moving around.

Air that is too humid leads to issues with condensation, mold and mildew. Air that is too dry leads to discomfort and static shock for everybody at home. It’s important to take these issues seriously, as sometimes humidity issues can be caused by attics or crawl spaces that lead to severe mildew in the foundation of your home. If you sense there’s an issue with the humidity at home, give us a call to inspect the issue and solve your problems!