It is one thing to be in a humid place for a while when you are a roaming as a tourist and a whole different story if you have to actually live in such a place your whole life. As a tourist your hotel will probably take care of the cooling of your room and you have no liabilities whatsoever for all the misgivings of humidity.
What options do you have if you constantly live in a place where humidity level is too high? Well, we will talk about some of the pros and cons of living in a humid place in this article.
Is humidity bad?
There is a right level of humidity at which causes least friction in our lives. A relative humidity (RH) between 30% and 50% inside our homes are comfortable for us.
In summers, this RH can increase dramatically and makes you feel hot and uncomfortable. A high indoor humidity level can also cause your paint and wallpaper to peel, your wood floors to cup and buckle, and your furniture to become mildewed. It can even affect the structure of your home, invisible to you until you need major repairs. High indoor humidity also creates an environment that fosters the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold, and mildew, which in turn can lead to unhealthy indoor air quality.
In winters however, a drop in RH makes air drier and can cause dry skin, frequent nosebleeds, chapped lips, sinus infections and sore throat etc.
you can visit link to understand more about how to tackle winters. Let us discuss what you can do to combat high humidity levels in summers.
Signs of humidity being a badass
- Do you have condensation on your windows and mirrors?
- Do you see discoloration of wooden surfaces and items?
- Do you smell foul constantly?
- Can you visibly see molds at certain parts of your home?
- Have the occupants observing coughing and wheezing more often?
These are some of the most common signs that high humidity is taking a toll on yours and your home’s health.
12 ways to reduce humidity
- Monitor humidity levels in your home using a hygrometer. Hygrometers are small devices which come in very cheap and can be placed at the center of your home somewhere and it will keep checking your house’s relative humidity all day long.
- Open your vents and windows of your kitchen, living room and bathroom if it is possible to do so. This can improve the air quality and if the dew point outside is not high then this can help bring fresh air into the house at the same time reducing humidity indoors. Make sure you are not living in a place with high pollution.
- Place water absorbing indoor plants in your living room to suck in some extra humidity and giving a good vibe to your home at the same time.
- Check your AC unit sizing and make sure that it is leveled. Your AC could be the reason for high humidity.
- Places which get worst affected by humidity need special attention such as basement, crawl space, grow room etc.
- If you have a crawl space then make sure you have a vapor barrier
- Crawl space fences should be closed. It is better for the 100% humidity to be outside rather than in.
- If you have an attic, make sure to ventilate it using whirlybird vents, Kent fans or eve ridge etc.
- Grow rooms may need high rotating fans, improve air exchange or plug in a dehumidifier.
- Use dehumidifier in your basement. Check out our Top 5 dehumidifiers list.
- Check if your dehumidifier is not collecting water and needs a service. Check out our post on common dehumidifier problems.
- Use portable vacuum cleaners for kitchen and bathroom glass windows, shower screens and shower trays etc.