Why You Need To Reduce Indoor Humidity & How It’s Done
The term “humidity” takes your mind to something uncomfortable: hot days. Humid days, especially in summer, is a terrifying experience for many, and people sit inside their homes or escape to cooler places to get rid of the extreme conditions.
While it creates discomfort for you, humidity is known to have several benefits as well. Places that are known for excess humidity are also credited with good rainfall. It also ensures a more stable temperature and keeps humans and animals healthier than they would be in arid regions. Therefore, the humidity according to the changing climatic condition is good for nature as well as humans and animals.
How about the high humidity inside your property? Is that as good as exterior humidity?
Note that excess humidity means high moisture. If excess moisture enters a property, it can create several problems for the inhabitants as well as the property itself.
As long as you are not living in an arid region, you should be ready to deal with the humidity during summer. It is not because summer has high humidity compared to other seasons, but due to the hotness you feel. In Australia, the coastal regions are known for high humidity most of the year, and people often struggle to cope up with high humidity.
The studies by the Bureau of Meteorology show that cities like Melbourne experience high relative humidity throughout the year. It is especially high during the winter months – May, June, July, and August.
Before discussing further, let’s see what the major issues due to high humidity in the interior.
Issues Due To High Interior Humidity
Keeping interior humidity between 30-50 percent gives you optimal comfort. When it reaches 60-70 percent, you will feel uncomfortableness. Remember that during the summer months, the relative humidity touches 50-70 percent in Melbourne.
Note that it is just the exterior humidity, and human activities and lack of ventilation can make the interior humidity go up, compared to the exterior. People experience the following things due to high humid conditions:
• They feel hotness rather than the actual temperature.
• Since the air has high moisture, people do not experience the evaporation of sweating that can cool off their body. It makes people feel hotter than the actual temperature.
• They experience drowsiness and sleep problems.
• Humid conditions are ideal for the growth of mould spores. While mould spores are less active at normal humid conditions, they quickly multiply and grow in high moisture conditions. The mould growth can cause health issues for people, and excess mould makes properties dangerous for living.
• Wood furniture starts deteriorating due to prolonged moisture. You will also find doors and wood swells stuck during the period.
• The mildew due to damp conditions can infest fabric and damage it. Mildew can also cause stains on fabric as well as property walls.
• The metal products in the property, such as metal furniture, utensils, and more, experience rusting due to high humidity.
In any case, excess interior humidity is something that makes life inside properties difficult and uncomfortable.
It means that you should also put a check for humidity while searching for air conditioners in Melbourne for cheap cooling during summer.
How Can You Confirm Your Property Has Excess Humidity
The best way to find out the humidity level at the interior of your property is by using a hygrometer to measure it. A hygrometer is a device to measure the moisture levels in the air.
Note that it is a handy, highly useful device for you if you are living in a city or place that is known for high humidity. Hygrometers are not expensive, and you can find one in your nearest hardware store.
Once you got your hygrometer, try to measure the interior air quality. If you notice that the humidity level is more than 45-50 percent, it is time to think for ways to reduce the humidity level.
Below are the best ways to control the interior humidity at your property for ensuring cool summers.
Ventilate The Property
Lack of ventilation is a major reason for the excess moisture, especially in areas like kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and basement. If you have ventilation fans installed in these places, make use of them to get rid of the excess humidity from your property.
If you don’t have vent fans installed, you can call an electrician and get them installed in your property. Note that bathrooms are known for high moisture build-up and keeping your vent on and windows open while taking showers can remove the unwanted moisture from your bathroom. This applies to your kitchen as well and keeps the vents on for 5-10 minutes even after you complete your cooking.
While cooking food, you can cover cookware to reduce the evaporation that can directly add to the humidity. Note that while cooktop stoves and ovens make interior humidity worse, slow cookers contribute less to the indoor humidity.
Check And Repair Leaking Pipes
Make regular inspection in your plumbing system for any leaks in pipes and fixtures. Leaking pipes can contribute to the indoor humidity. If you find any leaking issues, repair it and ensure that it doesn’t add to the interior humidity.
Note that plumbing leaks behind the walls are not easy to find out. In such cases, you can find the plumbing leaks through stains, mould, and mildew on flooring, walls, and ceilings. Does your property have a musty smell, or do you get high water bills? If yes, it’s time for a plumbing inspection for possible damages.
You can also be watchful on other water sources at the property and keep watered plants outside of your property.
Use A Desiccant
Desiccants are a type of silica gel that can absorb moisture content from the environment. These gels come in cloth or paper bags and can be kept in places where you experience high moisture. The gel whisks away the moisture from the environment and reduces the humidity level.
Desiccants are reusable, and you can heat it once it is saturated. Use your oven to heat the desiccants and make them unsaturated. Some types of kitty litter and activated charcoal also work as desiccants.
Install A Dehumidifier
You can get rid of excess dampness by installing a dehumidifier. Installing a dehumidifier can help you to maintain the humidity at the required levels, especially if your property has a basement with excess humidity.
You can place them near the furnace air handler to remove moisture from the air that passes through the furnace. This ensures you to get cool, dry air throughout the summer – the way you want the summer to be.
Different types of dehumidifiers are available on the market, and some of the most common types are desiccant dehumidifiers, thermo-electric dehumidifiers, and mechanical dehumidifiers.
Desiccant dehumidifiers absorb humidity from the air and heat it within the machine. A thermo-electric dehumidifier captures the humid air and passes it through its cooling side. This leads to the condensation of air that results with the loss of moisture. Later, the air passes through a heating side and pulled outside as dry air.
Mechanical dehumidifiers come with a fan that absorbs humid air to its cooling coils. The cool air release moisture content to the dehumidifier and it gets collected within the machine. Later, the air, without moisture, is pushed back. If you use mechanical dehumidifiers, you need to remove water that is collected in the machine at regular intervals.
Mechanical dehumidifiers are an excellent choice when you want to deal with high temperature and high humidity. On the other hand, desiccant dehumidifiers are your option if your property has comparatively low temperature and humidity.
Thermo-electric dehumidifiers are known for their very basic design, and they are cheap compared to other dehumidifiers. However, it is also known for low moisture removal rate compared to other dehumidifiers and not the right choice if your property has excess humidity.
You can choose dehumidifiers according to your requirements and ensure low moisture for the interior of your property.
Use An Air Conditioner
You can use your air conditioner to remove the excess humidity from the indoor air. Your AC systems can work great if you replace the air filter and provide proper maintenance on a regular basis. Note that blocks of dust accumulation in the filter can make your AC less effective in controlling the humidity.
If your air conditioning unit has an ECM motor, turn the thermostat fan to the “ON” position and make it run continuously. It ensures the air circulation inside your property and prevents the build-up of humidity and heat.
Compared to a single-stage air conditioner, two-stage ACs provide better dehumidification.
Two-stage air conditioners have a working mechanism similar to mechanical dehumidifiers. These units have cooling coils to condense the air and remove the moisture from the air.
The air conditioners are known for excellent energy efficiency and help you to reduce your electricity bills, compared to single-stage air conditioners. With its two-stage operation, the unit runs longer than standard air conditioners and remove more humidity from your property.
The slower, longer operation of a two-stage AC is a great choice for people who want to reduce humidity as well as cut down their utility expenses for cooling their property.
Choose smart choices to get rid of humidity at your property as you need permanent solutions for moisture build-up during summer. Installing a two-stage air conditioner is an excellent option to ensure proper cooling at your property while maintaining humidity at a comfortable level.
Advance Heating & Cooling Specialists has a variety of two-stage air conditioners that can combine the benefit of both cooling and dehumidification. We offer air conditioners in Melbourne that are cheap and can also fit your utility goals.
Explore more of our cooling solutions available for our Melbourne customers and see how they can help you to fight with humidity at your property.