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Frequently Asked Questions About Your Home's Humidity

mulberry | Jan 9, 2011 |

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The air quality in our homes is important to our overall health. Afterall, we spend more hours at home than anywhere else, especially when you consider that you sleep there nearly every night. One factor that directly effects the air quality in our home is the relative humidity; or the moisture level in the air. People who are concerned about the humidity in their home often have basic questions they need answered.

What are the hazards associated with having air with too little humidity?
Air that lacks enough moisture can dry out the membranes in your respiratory tract; your nose and throat, and inhibit it's ability to protect you from foreign bodies. More frequent colds can occur, respiratory infections are more likely, and so forth. Dry, cracking skin is uncomfortable, and is basically a rupture in your body's first line of defense against invasion by tiny organisms. While dry air is harmful to humans, it's also harmful to your home and furnishings. Damage to wood can result from excessive dryness. Static electricity becomes more of annoyance as well.

What are the hazards associated with having air that has too much moisture in it?
Air that has too much moisture can also be a serious problem however. Inside your living space, high moisture can cause peeling of paint, wall paper, and so forth. Basements are particularly proned to excessively high humidity. This higher moisture content encourages the growth of mold, mildew, fungus, and so forth. Mold in particular can cause serious health consequences and many symptoms are being reported from allergies, asthma, colds, and sinus infections, to bleeding in the lungs, memory loss, pain in the joints, and more.

How much moisture should be in the air inside of my home?
Generally speaking, maintaining a relative humidity of 40-50% is a good target.

How do I know the relative humidity inside my home?
You can purchase and use a hygrometer to measure the relative humidity. They are very affordable and easy to read devices.

If the relative humidity is too low, what are my options?
There are a number of types of humidifiers, but if the humidity in your entire home is of concern, then there are certainly whole house humidifiers that connect to the ductwork on your furnace and won't take up living space. Do-It-Yourselfers can certainly do the work or, if you prefer, you can hire someone to install it. Of course it's wise to continue monitoring the relative humidity to assure you maintain the desired level. Many humdifiers have a humidistat to do this automatically.

If you just want to increase humidity in a particular room, small ultrasonic humidifiers are affordable, portable, energy efficient, and very quiet in operation. They are often used even in nurseries and in offices as well.

If the relative humidity is too high, what are my options?
Dehumidifiers are commonly used, especially in basements where higher humidity is most common. A dehumidifier for basement areas does need to be built with that environment in mind. It needs to operate well at the lower temperatures common in a basement (55-45 degrees), be capable of removing more moisture from the air (65-110 pints/day), and have a stronger fan. Some of these units are built to accommodate a crawl space better. They don't stand as tall.

If you want to use a dehumidifier in your home but don't want one sitting out in the room, duct kits are available to allow you to place the unit itself in a closet. Installation is relatively simple, but of course you can also hire someone to do it.