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How Humid Should My House Be: A Homeowners Guide

How Humid Should My House Be: A Homeowners Guide

When you own a home, you have to take care of a lot of things that you might not think about.

The average percentage that you should aim for is between 40 to 50% humidity to allow for the highest level of comfort in the home. During the colder months, you can allow the humidity to be a little lower than 40% to help prevent condensation from forming on the windows.

If you want to know more about how humid you should allow your house to be, and how to change it, then keep reading and get all the information and this topic that you need to know. 

How Humid Should My House Be 

Well, the humidity should normally be in the range of 40 to 50% because it creates the most comfortable environment for you and your family. However, there are multiple issues that can be created if the humidity in your house is too high or too low.

So, knowing what time of year to change the humidity and what to keep it at most of the time is important to keeping your house in the best shape. If your humidity is higher than it should be, one of the biggest issues that can occur is that mold can start to grow. 

Mold grows in humid environments, but so do other bacteria and viruses, so having the humidity too high can be hazardous to your family’s health. This is especially true if the humidity is never changed and remains at a high level for a long time. 

Over time, if mold is allowed to grow, then your family could experience many different health issues. This is dangerous for many reasons, so keeping the humidity is a lot more important than you might think at first. 

What is Good Indoor Humidity in Winter?

The humidity level during most of the year is one thing, but when the weather gets cold, you will want to lower the percentage. This is because of the condescension that can occur on the windows when the temperature outdoors is low. 

You will want to keep the humidity around 40%, or just below that number to keep that condescension from happening. This will keep your home more comfortable throughout the entire year without the risk of mold or other issues. 

The rule of thumb to go by here when you are trying to determine how low the humidity should be is that for every ten degrees the temperature drops outside, you want to drop the humidity maximum percentage by 5 degrees. 

This will keep your home at the perfect humidity level throughout the entire winter and ensure that your home is not too dry or too humid to cause any problems within the house. 

However, it should be mentioned that you do not want to put the humidity level too low, which would make the air very dry.

When people come in from the colder weather outside to the dry air indoors, they could end up with nosebleeds from the dryness. 

How Do I Control the Humidity in My House?

When you want to know how to control the humidity of your home, you first need to know what the humidity level is.

To figure this out, you will need to purchase a hygrometer or a humidity monitor made for indoors. 

These devices can typically be found at any drugstore or home improvement supply store and will tell you the percentage of humidity in the room you are in. You will just place the device in the room you want to test and wait until the percentage shows up. 

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This will tell you how much you will need to adjust the humidity, then you can deal with changing it. 

One of the best ways to adjust the humidity of your home is to have a humidifier. If you usually use one during the hotter months of the year, then you will need to turn it down low or completely off. 

However, in the summer months, using a humidifier will help keep the humidity to a minimum and allow the home to be more comfortable. 

However, it might not be enough to just turn the humidifier off in the winter, so you will want to use your air conditioning and fans to help lower the humidity level in winter. If you keep your fans or air conditioning on for two hours a day, this could help lower the humidity level. 

If you are able to, then opening the window will also do the same job. However, if you live in an area where it is raining or snowing throughout the winter, then opening windows might not be a consistent way of taking care of the problem.

What Humidity Grows Mold?

If you want to make sure to keep the humidity of your home at a safe level so that mold doesn’t grow, then you need to have a level that is above 60%.

The main humidity level for mold growth can begin as low as 60%, but the higher the level, the higher the chance of mold growth. 

If the humidity level is closer to 70%, then this is the ideal humidity level for mold. If the percentage stays at this level, then you will likely have a mold issue in your home.  

If you allow the humidity to be higher than 70%, then you are creating an environment that allows for exponential mold growth.

Mold in your home can cause a host of health problems for you and even for the structures in your home. It’s best to monitor your humidity levels before any problems arise.

If you are purchasing a new home, always get a mold inspection!

Even if you live in the dry deserts of Utah, mold can pop up and cause a homeowner lots of headaches!

Do Fans Lower Humidity?

Well, the short answer is, yes. Fans can play a major role in lowering the humidity level of your home. However, this does not necessarily mean that small fans that move air around are the best option.

Exhaust fans that are installed in most homes, usually in the kitchen and bathrooms, can be a great way to keep the humidity level low. These fans can help circulate air and reduce the humidity more than regular fans. 

This is even more effective when you use the fans in tandem with open windows or running the air conditioning. The exhaust fans will help circulate the cool air around the home evenly and ensure that the humidity never reaches too high of a level. 

Not only does the air conditioner bring in cooler air, but it also takes out moisture in the air. When the two are working together, the air conditioner will lower the moisture and humidity in the air while the exhaust fan blows that air throughout the whole house. 

However, if you are not able to run the air conditioner often enough to make much of a difference when you test the humidity level of the house, then opening the windows even to get more airflow will also help a lot. 

Conclusion 

Thinking about the humidity levels of a house is not the most exciting thing, but it is something that you will need to address as a homeowner sooner or later. This is especially true in areas where the summer and winter have extreme temperatures. 

The heat of the summer and the cold of the winter can affect the needs of your home and the humidity of the home will be just one of the concerns. You want to maintain lower levels during certain times of the year, and higher levels at other times. 

However, if you have a device that allows you to check the humidity levels, you can easily use your air conditioner, exhaust fans, and the opening or closing of windows to make the most comfortable and healthy environment. 

By keeping the levels low, you can avoid getting a problem with mold growth in your home and keep your whole family as happy and healthy as possible. 

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Lindsay Reed

Hi, I'm the founder of ProjectPerfectHome.com! I created this website to be a resource for everyone who wants to make the best home possible.