Air quality is a major concern of ours at Comfort 360, and with the dog days of summer upon us, here’s some tips to help you combat humidity in your home.
Fix Up Your House
Leaky pipes, dripping faucets and toilets that leave puddles not only waste water, but they also add to humidity problems. The water they release gradually evaporates, ending up as moisture in your home’s air. Repair or replace pipes as necessary and cover sweating pipes with foam pipe insulation tubes.
Leaks in the roof and walls also bring excess moisture into your home, as well as encourage rot that could eventually cause serious structural damage. Repairing the leaks now will bring down your humidity level and protect your home.
If your A/C’s drain line gets plugged, water will back up into your home. Once or twice each cooling season, use a wet vac to suck sludge from the outside end of the drain.
Invest In Home Upgrades
Air leaks around windows, doors, appliance and exhaust vents, and points where utility lines enter the house bring in hot, humid air during the summer. To keep the humidity outside and improve your home’s energy efficiency, apply caulk and weatherstripping as appropriate to seal these leaks.
Check that your clothes dryer is vented outdoors, not into a crawl space, basement or right into the laundry room. If it isn’t vented properly, contact a professional to have the vent restructured. If you have old windows that often accumulate condensation, consider replacing them with double-paned or Energy Star-qualified windows.
Make Some Lifestyle Changes
Taken together, simple changes in how you live can do a lot to lower humidity indoors. Aim to take shorter, cooler showers. When you cook, keep pots covered to hold the moisture inside. If you have a large collection of houseplants, put them outdoors for a while. Potted plants give off moisture, and if your humidity problems clear up when the plants are outside, you’ll know where part of your problem is.
Boost Home Ventilation
Improving your home’s airflow is one of the most effective ways to lower humidity and increase air quality. After cooking or showering, run exhaust fans for a few minutes to get rid of built up moisture, but don’t leave them on much longer. Left running, they’ll bring in more humidity than they let out.
Take a look at your home’s attic ventilation. If you have unbalanced ventilation, such as a single gable vent or soffit vents without ridge vents, your attic isn’t getting enough airflow. It will accumulate moisture that will then find its way into your rooms. Consult a professional about installing ventilation that allows for continuous airflow, such as a ridge-and-soffit system.
Add A Dehumidifier
If better ventilation doesn’t solve your humidity problem, it may be time to install a whole-house dehumidifier in your heating and cooling system. Whole-house dehumidifiers affect a much greater area than portable models and they’re more convenient.
Air passing through your system runs through the dehumidifier, which removes moisture from the air using one of several available methods. The moisture removed runs into your home’s plumbing system and the dryer air flows into the ducts and out to your rooms. Adding a dehumidifier the right way can dramatically increase your air quality. These dehumidifiers require professional installation.
For more tips on how to lower humidity in your home, or anything related to HVAC, keep in touch with Comfort 360!