No one likes feeling uncomfortable, clammy, and damp in their home due to high humidity levels, and your home doesn’t like it either.
Most people do not enjoy the humidity that comes with our Buffalo summers. Humidity is especially disliked when it impacts the comfort levels for you and your family within your home. When the humidity in your home is too high or too low, it can make living conditions very unpleasant, and it can also do damage to your property. How can high humidity impact your home and family? Let’s review.
How Can High Humidity Impact Your Home and Family?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that you keep the humidity in your home between 30 and 50%. You need to reduce the humidity in your home if it is above 50%, especially if it gets to 60% or higher.
When the humidity in your home is too low, it can create less than desirable conditions, the same is true if it is too high. No one likes feeling uncomfortable, clammy, and damp in their home due to high humidity levels, and your home doesn’t like it either. High humidity can lead to HVAC issues, mold and mildew, and damage to your home and belongings. Mold, mildew, bacteria, viruses, and more, thrive and grow when humidity levels are in excess of the recommended levels mentioned above.
Let’s review further a few of the ways high humidity can impact your home and family.
– Health: Mold can cause significant health problems for you and your family. Molds produce allergens and irritants that can create allergic reactions, cause asthma attacks, and other ongoing health issues.
– Wall Damage: If you have high humidity in your home, the condensation will likely find its way to your walls. This can create flaky paint, curling wallpaper, and other types of damage.
– Rotting: Excess moisture in your home due to high humidity can damage wooden items in your home. Hardwood floors, window frames, wooden furniture, baseboards, and other items can acquire stains, and even begin to rot, due to the moisture.
– HVAC Issues: Humidity can cause long term damage to your HVAC system, and make your unit need to run longer to get to ideal temperatures and humidity levels. The constant usage of your AC will cause your air conditioner to wear out very quickly. Humidity can also cause the air filter and other parts of your air conditioning to become obstructed with condensation, causing a potential freeze up.
Are There Ways to Reduce the Humidity in Your Home?
Reducing humidity in your home, really depends on the home and the source of the moisture. There are some ways to help lower your humidity levels to limit the high humidity from impacting your home and family.
Some things you can do include:
– Checking for leaks and moisture where it shouldn’t be and resolving the issue.
– Allowing your AC to do its job and making sure it is ready to take on the task by having an AC tune-up and regularly replacing the air filter.
– Using vents and exhaust fans in rooms of high moisture: laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, etc.
– Tasking a dehumidifier with reducing and maintaining the level of humidity in the air.
High humidity can impact your home and family and make for a miserable summer if not addressed. Your home should be the place you go to escape the heat and humidity, it should not feel the same indoors as it does outside.
Count on Reimer Home Services to help keep you and your home cool and dry this summer. From Niagara Falls to Orchard Park and all points in-between, we’re Western New York’s local heating, cooling, and plumbing pros. No matter where you live in the Buffalo area, Reimer will be there for your home with our fast, Day or Night service.
