To control the temperature at home is like adjusting a symphony or making fine-tuning to ensure everything remains comfortable all year round. In the colder months, we snug in with sealed warmth.
Whilst in the heat of summer, our reliable air conditioners keep things cool and in check.
However, within this symphony of temperature, humidity is often overlooked. It’s the underlying hum that can have a profound impact on your home’s well-being.
The ideal indoor humidity range tends to be around 40-60 percent which creates an environment where both you and your home thrive.
Otherwise going up too high, moistness becomes a fiend inviting wood rot and mold to do some unwanted acts throughout your room. In turn when it goes below 40%, an entirely new trouble arises.
For example, think about floorboards bending, and cupboard doors being out of shape among other such signs which show that fatigue has entered into the house itself.
Stabilizing dampness is similar to directing a sensitive tune which guarantees that your house keeps being an oasis of comfort and durability.
What Is Low Humidity?
Low humidity refers to low water vapor content in the atmosphere which results in a dry atmosphere. Normally relative humidity below forty percent(40%) indicates low humidity.
It is important to monitor relative humidity levels inside your house frequently especially when it gets cold so as to fix low humidity promptly before any damage occurs.
In order to effectively identify and treat low levels of moisture content there is a need for understanding what relative moisture means.
Understanding Humidity
Relative Humidity (RH) represents the amount of water vapor present in the air compared with its maximum capacity at that temperature.
There is greater potential for warm air to hold more moisture than cold air even if two separate houses have different temperatures but the same level of water vapor.
The RH percentage shows how much actual H2O4 gas exists in relation to the total amount possible at the current ambient temperature. Relative humidity above 60% indicates high humidity, while figures below 40% denote low humidity.
For example, if the relative humidity is 50 percent, the air holds only 50 percent of its potential water vapor content.
In contrast, a relative humidity of twenty-five percent means that this dry air contains only one-quarter of what it could theoretically hold.
How Low Humidity Affects the Home
Low humidity can cause damage to your home just like high humidity does with problems such as wood rot and mold growth although not as often talked about. Consequently, leaving this condition unattended may cost you some damage to your house.
Prolonged exposure to low levels of moisture should be watched for symptoms of damage on various parts of your house.
Expect signs such as shrinking, warping cracking, or peeling in various parts of your house including hardwood floors, wooden furniture, cupboards, drawers, worktops, wallpapers, paints, windows, and doors.
Among many others such as your cherished houseplants, you can recognize prolonged consequences caused by extremely low humidities.
Other signs that show lower humidity include the increased frequency of static electricity shocks.
The number of times that you get shocked when you touch things such as the carpet or laundry increases, and this means it is a good time to look into your house’s humidity levels.
Maintaining adequate humidity is not just about comfort; it saves your living space from the silent destructive effects of low air moisture content.
Causes of Low Humidity
Low indoor humidity may be due to different reasons with one common factor being outdoor temperature, especially during cold months.
When winter comes in, the chilly air outside cannot hold so much water vapor as compared to other warm seasons of the year hence resulting in very low relative humidity.
Whenever you open doors or windows, this dry cold air enters your warm home where it heats up and expands. This process ultimately lowers overall relative indoor humidity.
Besides weather-related fluctuations, overuse of air cooling systems or dehumidifiers can also make the home’s environment become too arid.
Furthermore, some regions like deserts are usually characterized by perpetually low atmospheric moisture irrespective of prevailing season.
In such places, combating drought conditions is an ongoing fight that usually calls for less demanding alternatives like installing whole-house humidifiers that restore innate balance inside.
Target Humidity Levels
Appropriate levels of moisture in houses must be maintained in order to provide a comfortable and healthy life. If you are concerned about how much moisture exists within your home there are several simple methods available for you to verify this fact.
Many new thermostats including smart ones have either direct humid reading on the thermostat screens or they can be accessed via smartphone apps.
If your thermostat does not do this then buying a hygrometer is an inexpensive and viable option for accurate measurements.
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Ideally, the relative humidity (RH) level at home should range from 40% -60% so as to avoid any possible negative consequences.
At above 60%, reduce it slightly but if it goes below 40%, introduce more humidity into your home until you get the required level.
How to Increase Humidity
Fortuitously enough, raising humidity in a house is not quite expensive or complex. Simple actions such as cooking with the lid off boiling pots and opening bathroom doors while taking a hot shower can be extremely helpful.
Another trick is to leave water in the bathtub till it cools down thus allowing it to evaporate gradually over some time.
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Growing indoor plants brings nature indoors and adds aesthetic beauty, as well as enhancing moisture levels in the air.
But when they do not perform sufficiently, there are individual room humidifiers or even whole-house units that you can buy.
Just don’t go too far, beware of excessive moisture that may accompany too high humilities.