Why monitoring your homes humidity is crucial in PCB, FL!
Maintaining good air quality in your home is important for the health and comfort of your entire family.
Humidity levels are a concept that many fail to notice until they experience drastic, noticeable shifts. When humidity levels are high, it means that the air has a high moisture content. This impedes the natural sweat evaporation process, making it harder for a person to cool down. In the U.S., states like Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the highest relative humidity levels, while Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico have the lowest. Despite this, all areas experience fluctuating levels both outdoors and indoors. Too much or too little humidity can lead to the rise of unhealthy airborne particulates. To avoid this, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, recommends keeping relative humidity levels inside your home between 30% and 50%.
To keep your home humidity levels within the recommended range, you must first understand how to check them. From there, you can take steps to remedy the situation if they are too high or too low.
How to check humidity levels at home
You must determine your current levels before achieving optimal humidity in your home. To do this, you will need a digital indoor humidity meter, known as a hygrometer. They are available at most local hardware stores and are simple to read and operate. Follow the instructions provided for your model for the best results.
If the humidity reads between 30% and 50%, your home’s humidity levels are ideal, and no changes are needed. If it displays a number higher than 50%, your humidity levels are too high, while below 30% indicates too little humidity. Both of these can cause problems with your health and home and should be addressed accordingly.
If you do not have access to a hygrometer, you can test using a glass and ice cubes to get an idea of whether the levels in your home are too high or too low. Grab a glass cup and place it in the area you wish to check. Quickly add several ice cubes to the glass and leave the room. Allow the ice to sit in place for 5 minutes before returning. If there is condensation on the outside of the glass, this indicates that humidity levels are too high. No condensation at all may indicate that the humidity levels are too low.
However if you don’t want to invest in a hygrometer or try out the humidity science experiment above then just call Quincy’s, your local heating and ac repair experts! We can help address all humidity issues and bring you back to comfort! Quincy’s can also help show you what you will need in order to remotely monitor your indoor humidity!
Trust us when we say…We have seen the importance of humidity monitoring here in Panama City Beach, FL!
Common signs of high humidity indoors
If you suspect your home has high humidity levels, you may notice these common signs:
Condensation on windows
Water stains on your fabrics or hardwood floors
Stale or musty smells on the furniture or carpet
Mold or mildew in the bathrooms, basement, or under the sink
Stuffy air
Peeling paint or wallpaper
Swollen wooden floors, cabinets, or doors
High humidity levels can cause irreversible damage to linens, furniture, wood, paint, and other surfaces in your home. If you notice these signs, it is important to remedy the situation quickly to avoid further damage and organic matter development. Mildew and dust also thrive in high humidity.
Please note: Not having these common signs does not mean that the humidity levels aren’t already creating indoor air quality health issues, damaging your flex duct in your HVAC system, overworking your HVAC system, creating a lovely environment for fleas, bed bugs, dust mites, and all the other icks out there!
How to decrease humidity levels
Running your central air conditioning unit is a great start. There are also simple design tricks that can help. If you’re redesigning or redecorating your bathroom, consider using mildew-resistant paint and primer. Even if you only use this paint for the lower parts of the walls, it can cover old mildew stains and prevent new spots from developing.
Add indoor plants to decrease indoor humidity and make your home feel inviting. For example, a peace lily can absorb humidity and toxins through its leaves. Peace lilies only need indirect sunlight to grow, making them ideal, low-maintenance houseplants. If you’re looking for a plant that can be hung, on the other hand, the English ivy might be a perfect fit. When they’re hung up high, they absorb the humidity rising in the air, and you don’t have to worry about children or pets knocking them over. Please keep in mind cats are very agile and love to nibble on plants..most of which are toxic to them! Dogs are also very curious and may nibble away too; most plants are not to be ingested by dogs either! It’s best not to use plants indoors with any pets for their safety.
If these tactics fail to reduce the levels to under 50%, investing in a dehumidifier is one of your best bets. A dehumidifier is a machine designed for humidity control that removes moisture from the air. This is one of the most effective and efficient methods, but choosing the right one for your home is critical, this is where Quincy’s shines. Our technicians can identify the cause and show you all possible solutions to get your home back to comfortable and make your indoor air quality healthier for you.
Quincy’s also highly recommends communicating HVAC systems paired with its partner, a communicating thermostat. This is also an amazing tool that allows you to monitor and control your indoor humidity remotely!
Explore dehumidifiers
A dehumidifier’s drying capacity is measured by how many pints of water it can remove from the air within 24 hours. You may only need a small dehumidifier to control the moisture in one room or apartment. Most portable, single-room dehumidifiers are self-draining and come with a drain-hose connection. You’ll need to place it where the hose can empty water, such as a laundry room sink. Dehumidifiers with large tubs or drip pans can hold more and will need to be emptied less often. Some dehumidifiers use evaporation technology, so a drain hose isn’t required. The best option is to install a whole-home dehumidifier. These connect to your existing ductwork and must be installed by an HVAC professional. They are much more effective in humid climates or when humidity levels are too high throughout the home.
Quincy’s top picks for home humidity control
We highly recommend investing in communicating equipment paired with a communicating thermostat. Additionally adding a dehumidifier; these are especially necessary depending on, not only your home’s environment conditions, but also specific building envelopes that require intense dehumidification.
Owning a home in Northwest Florida can be like owning your own sauna in the heat of summer. Rather than having to worry about what your humidity is with old and noncommunicating equipment, and remembering to drain all your dehumidifiers, we highly recommend calling us, Quincy’s Heating & AC. We will diagnosis your humidity issues and show you all the avenues to an easier path for monitoring and correcting your humidity issues and concerns!