Evict excess in-home humidity with our tips
There are few things worse than sweating your way through the August muggies—but excess humidity is often a year-round problem for homeowners with airflow issues in their kitchens, bathrooms, and basements. High indoor humidity is more than just uncomfortable; it can peel your trendy wallpaper, encourage mold and mildew growth, and even cause structural damage when rot and decay are left to fester.
The good news is that you can evict excess moisture pretty quickly if you implement the right mitigation strategy. The tips we discuss below will help you learn how to lower humidity in a house and control it. Should you need to check for mold before using these techniques, a local mold inspector can help you determine if you have a problem, and can find the cause for your excess moisture.
The ideal indoor humidity level is between 30% and 50%. If your home experiences high humidity issues, and you need to take steps to lower it, try keeping your indoor humidity level toward the middle or lower end of this range. Learning how to measure humidity in a home accurately often requires the use of a tool called a hygrometer, although a few other tools, like a digital thermostat, can at least give you an estimate.
One of the most important things you can do is check for air and water leaks throughout the house. Inspect walls, windows, and doors for drafts. Then, seal those problem areas with insulation, caulk, or rubber cement. Excessive humidity in your home can also cause window condensation.
At the same time, you need to be on the lookout for damp areas or water leaks, especially in the basement. A damp, leaky basement will increase the humidity levels throughout your home, so fix your leaky pipes ASAP. You can also conduct an easy DIY with plastic sheeting to test your concrete’s moisture level.
It’s probably no surprise that your kitchen and bathroom are pretty much the saunas of your home. They’re often the most humid areas in your living space. For that reason, you should make it a habit to use exhaust fans in these rooms, especially when you’re cooking or showering. Otherwise, that moisture is just going to disperse throughout the house.
Exhaust fans aren’t the only type of fan you can use to combat humidity. Ceiling fans can help, too. While ceiling fans and standing fans can’t lower humidity on their own, they will increase airflow and help prevent humidity from settling. Ventilation is key in preventing that soggy, stuffy feeling resulting from excess indoor moisture.
When taking a hot shower, you can see the excess humidity in the room from the buildup of moisture on mirrors. However, this heated moisture also can build up on walls and ceilings, even though you don’t necessarily see it.
If you turn down the temperature just a bit when taking a shower, you’ll create less moisture in the air. This reduces humidity in the bathroom, giving the exhaust fan a better chance of keeping up with it. It’s a good step to take to lower the humidity in your home. You can either reduce the temperature of your water heater or, even better, just use a lower hot water setting while in the shower.
Paying attention to what you bring into your home isn’t just a good housekeeping practice; it’s also a great way to control humidity levels. For instance, if your clutter is taking over your basement and attic, you’re creating prime conditions for moisture buildup. Air can’t circulate freely with too much junk in the way.
It’s not just the clutter that can cause a problem. Indoor plants may be beautiful, but you may spike humidity levels if you overload your home with greenery. This is especially noticeable during the colder months when the windows stay closed.
If you live in a high humidity area, you may occasionally feel like your carpeting and rugs are slightly damp. In reality, they are. Carpet absorbs moisture from the air and can retain it, especially when limited airflow is occurring. If the carpet is directly on top of a concrete floor that seeps, the carpet may soak up that moisture, too, contributing to the overall humidity level in the room.
One significant step to take to lower humidity in a home is to remove carpeting, opting instead for hardwood or vinyl floors. Along those same lines, you should pick up rugs and wash them frequently, as they also absorb moisture. Place them outdoors to air dry before bringing them back into the house. Consider not using rugs on days when humidity is especially high.
One of the best ways to lower humidity in your home is to invest in a high-quality dehumidifier. As its name suggests—dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air in your space.
Does a dehumidifier help with mold? Because it removes moisture from the air, it does reduce the chances of mold and mildew formation, providing an added level of benefit for you.
Many homeowners take a room-by-room approach to humidity control, but if you have more than one problem area to address, you may want to install a whole house dehumidifier. A whole house humidifier costs between $100 and $300, not including the cost of labor for installation.
Who installs whole house dehumidifiers? Nearly always, this project requires the services of a local HVAC contractor. Learning how to install a whole home dehumidifier requires special tools and skills so that it goes smoothly without damaging other components of the home. It’s not a job for a novice.
Running an electric-powered dehumidifier is a common suggestion to help with lowering humidity in a house, but you may not like the noise it generates, or the added cost on your utility bill. Instead, you could try some non-electric or natural dehumidifiers. Options include:
Baking soda in a bowl
Cat litter in a bowl
Charcoal in a bag or in a can with holes
Coffee creamer (non-dairy) in a bowl
Commercial humidity absorbing products
Rock salt in a bowl
Silica gel packs
Be certain to avoid leaving these items in areas where small children or pets could eat them.
These non-electric dehumidifiers likely won’t be as efficient as an electric dehumidifier. For a major humidity problem in your home, you’ll need a lot of natural dehumidifiers, or you may just want to put up with the noise of an electric unit.
Air conditioners lower humidity by collecting moisture in the coils and draining it outside your home. The result? Cool, dry air. If your home doesn’t have central air, a new HVAC system costs between $5,000 to $12,000. Yes, it’s an investment, but it can help eliminate that sticky, humid air that makes summer extra sweaty. If you can’t install or afford central air, consider placing a few room air conditioning units in the rooms where humidity is highest.
If you have a central AC unit already installed, you can reduce the humidity levels by turning down the thermostat a degree or two—or three. Yes, this uses more energy and raises your power bill, but you may recoup that cost through needing fewer repairs related to high humidity problems.
Clogged gutters trap water. And water with no place to go will rot the fascia boards and send moisture directly into your home. This raises indoor humidity levels and puts your walls and ceilings at risk.
To prevent clogs, clean your gutters once or twice a year (or hire a local gutter cleaning service to do the job for you). If you live on a property with a lot of leafy trees, you may want to consider installing a gutter guard.
Moisture can sneak into your home from the earth beneath your foundation by way of a crawl space. To prevent the issue, encapsulate your crawl space with a vapor barrier. The cost of crawl space encapsulation is usually around $5,500—but your waterproofing contractor might also suggest installing a dehumidifier for maximum effect.
If encapsulation isn’t within your budget, consider installing fans in your crawl space to improve ventilation. Good ventilation will help move moist air away from your home, so it doesn’t seep in through the floor.
When you have cold air moving through ducts or cold water moving through pipes, condensation can form on the exterior of the metal or PVC. This moisture comes from humidity in the air. Once it condenses, it remains in place. If the humidity level in the air later drops, the retained moisture on the pipes and ductwork could evaporate back into the air, raising humidity levels again.
You can stop your pipes and ductwork from “sweating” by insulating them. Purchase a sleeve or cover made for pipes and ducts that can resist the formation of moisture.
When it’s humid outside, it may seem counterintuitive to open your windows but think about it: More ventilation means less opportunity for damp air to settle in your home. Don’t open your windows (or your doors) on a rainy day, but a little cross ventilation will do wonders for drying out your home quickly.
Hanging clothes on a drying rack indoors—literally—brings humidity into your space. If you’ve got the space for a clothesline, dry your garments outside. This will help the moisture evaporate outside your home as your clothes dry instead of trapping it inside.
Some appliances that you use regularly can cause an increase in humidity in the home by generating moist heat. A clothes dryer is one appliance that increases humidity quite a bit, especially if you have an indoor vent. Avoid doing laundry on extremely humid days.
Running a dishwasher with hot water and heated drying also can increase humidity in the home. If you are cooking with boiling water, or if you are baking food with quite a bit of moisture in the oven, this can increase humidity, too. Try to use these appliances at times when the humidity level in your home is lower, such as after sunset. Consider washing dishes by hand, too.
