Why You Should Control the Level of Humidity in Your Home

Why You Should Control the Level of Humidity in Your Home

When considering their home comfort and indoor air quality, most people tend to think of the temperature. When it’s cold outside, homeowners turn up the heat. When it’s warm, they blast their air conditioner. What most people tend to forget is the humidity in their homes.

Whether you’re in Stillwater, OK, the USA, or anywhere else, controlling the humidity level in your home is important not only for your comfort but also for your health.

What Is Humidity?

As many already know, humidity is a measure of the moisture in the air. Often, air is generally drier in the winter and more humid in the summer. This is because moisture thrives in warmer temperatures but disappears or freezes in colder temperatures.

Relative Humidity

When considering the humidity in your Stillwater, OK, home, you’re considering relative humidity. The relative humidity is the measure of both temperature and moisture. Therefore, understanding relative humidity is the key to adjusting a home’s comfort and indoor air quality.

The Ranges of Humidity

Humidity is often broken up into a series of ranges. These ranges have different criteria and effects.

Low Humidity

Low humidity is anywhere under 30%. In this range, the air is extremely dry.  

Comfortable Humidity

Anywhere between 30% to 60% humidity is considered comfortable. It is not too dry but not humid, either. It creates a healthy, comfortable environment.  

Ideal Humidity

The ideal range of humidity is within the comfortable range but more defined. Ideal humidity is between 45% to 55% humidity. This much narrower range is what homeowners should strive for. This range allows for the benefits of higher humidity without any of the side effects.  

High Humidity

High humidity is any level of humidity between 55% to 80%. This range is where humidity becomes much more noticeable and often unbearable, especially during sweltering weather, such as the summer in Stillwater, OK, USA.  

Extremely High Humidity (Rain, Mist, Etc.)

Lastly, excessively high humidity is any level above 80%. This range is where weather comes into the mix. Once above 80% humidity, mist can start to form as well as clouds, which inevitably leads to rain.

The Effects of High and Low Humidity

Different humidity ranges can affect you, your family, and your home’s environment in several ways. Here are the effects of high and low humidity.  

High Humidity

• Helps mold, bacteria, and mildew grow
• Causes excess sweat
• Nasal congestion
• Your house feels hotter
• Wood and wood furnishings can warp

Low Humidity

• Itchy, dryer skin
• Irritates sinuses
• Dry mouth and throat
• Increases the risk of catching colds, cases of flu, and other infections
• Wood and wood furnishings can dry out and crack
• Your house feels colder

Both high and low humidity can have severe, unwanted effects. For a healthier, more comfortable in-home atmosphere, homeowners need to create a proper balance of relative humidity in their homes. 

The Solution

To properly balance the humidity level in a home, you need a whole-home humidifier or a whole-home dehumidifier. Determining what unit you need depends mainly on the climate where one lives. For example, on one of the tropical islands of Hawaii, residents need whole-home dehumidifiers to cut down on the higher humidity. However, in the desert in Arizona, a whole-home humidifier helps increase indoor relative humidity. In short, humid climates require dehumidifiers, and dryer climates require humidifiers.  

Whole-Home Humidifiers

Modern whole-home humidifiers are great additions to homes in dryer climates. These units are well-designed. They use sensors to adjust and maintain humidity within the ideal range automatically. They can also prevent microbial growth through automatic draining. That way, they do not hold any standing water when not operating.  

Whole-Home Dehumidifiers

Most air conditioners will naturally dehumidify a home while running. However, in more humid climates, you should add a whole-home dehumidifier to your HVAC system. These clever devices remove yet more moisture from the air, helping create a more proper balance and more comfortable environment.

Installing a Humidifier or Dehumidifier

Whether you need humidification or dehumidification, it is best to seek professional help for installation. When installed improperly, humidifiers and dehumidifiers will not operate properly and create a proper relative humidity balance. Professional installation by an HVAC expert will help homeowners achieve the proper balance of relative humidity their homes need.

For those in Stillwater, OK, USA, Sitton Mechanical, LLC, offers quick, quality installation services for whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers. Contact Sitton Mechanical, LLC, for more information or to schedule an installation!

The experienced HVAC technicians from Sitton Mechanical, LLC, will ensure your unit is installed and operating properly, which helps homeowners in Stillwater, OK, achieve optimal levels of relative humidity.