Humidity In Your Home
Humidity in your home can affect a lot of things, including your energy bill. Your heating and cooling can be affected by humidity, thus raising the cost of your energy supply. Maintaining the proper humidity level will also affect the comfort of your home. You can check the humidity levels with a hygrometer. This gadget is like a thermometer, but it measures the levels of humidity in your house.
Certain rooms have higher humidity levels than others. Laundry rooms, kitchens, and basements tend to have a higher humidity. Bedrooms that are situated near these rooms will have higher humidity levels than those that are farther away.
During colder months, humidity levels can drop. This is because cold air doesn’t hold as much moisture as warm air. The drop in humidity can make the air temperature feel colder, which forces you to turn up the heat, wasting energy. The air also becomes dry. Dry air can result in dry skin, dry throat and nose, and dry hair. You can also catch a cold more easily. Low humidity will also wreak havoc on your house. Wood is more likely to crack and paint will chip. Electronics can be damaged by low humidity and dry air. Low humidity also causes static electricity.
Warmer months can cause higher levels of humidity. High humidity can cause condensation. This can cause a variety of problems. The increase in moisture can peel paint and wallpaper. It can also stain the walls and ceilings. In addition, the moisture can provide a breeding ground for mold and rot. These can destroy your house and cause a whole host of health problems.
For low humidity get a humidifier. Humidifiers add water to the air, thus increasing humidity. There are two types of humidifiers, cool mist, and warm mist. Cool mist absorbs water while a fan blows it through a wet filter. The water then re-enters the room. Warm mist heats the water before returning it to the air.
If you don’t want to buy a humidifier, there are a few tricks you can use to put moisture back into the air. You can put a bowl of water on top of an air heating system, such as a radiator. Another way is to leave wet clothing out to dry. Both methods will reintroduce some moisture into the air.
For high humidity, get a dehumidifier. These suck the water out of the air.
You can also use exhaust fans. Where you don’t have them, such as the laundry room, they can be installed.
Also, cook with covered pots. When showering, use cooler water and take shorter showers. Make sure your dryer vents go directly to the outside. Don’t keep a lot of plants in the house. And just open a window to introduce fresh air into the house.
Keeping optimum levels of humidity in your house is important not just for the house itself, but for your health. Keep these tips in mind when regulating the humidity levels in your home.