Everything You Need to Know About Reducing Humidity at Home

When it’s humid outside, the air inside your home can feel even muggier since moisture in the air can concentrate more readily in confined spaces. If the humidity isn’t dealt with, home comfort and indoor air quality suffer. By educating yourself on the sources of humidity, you can learn how to reduce humidity throughout your home.

Sources of Humidity

The most common sources of indoor humidity include:

• Poorly functioning or wrong-sized HVAC system: A well-functioning system removes some humidity from indoor air, preventing moisture buildup.
• Poor ventilation: Airtight homes with inadequate ventilation lead to stagnant, humid air.
• Damp crawl spaces or basements: Even if they seem shut off from the rest of the home, moist air in these areas adds to overall humidity levels.
• Leaky roofs and plumbing: Moisture evaporates into the air, adding to humidity.
• Poorly vented clothes dryers: Clothes dryers should be vented outside the home. Reduce Humidity With These Tips To reduce humidity in your Wilmington area home, try the following strategies.
• Have your HVAC system serviced: Since a malfunctioning or oversized system can lead to humidity issues, this is the first thing to consider when your home seems overly humid.
• Improve ventilation: Have your ventilation system checked by a contractor and ask for recommended upgrades.
• Install a dehumidifier: Choose a portable dehumidifier if dampness seems to be localized to one area in the home. Otherwise, consider a whole-house dehumidifier.
• Use exhaust fans: Daily activities in the bathroom and kitchen significantly add to indoor humidity. Use exhaust fans when cooking or bathing.
• Repair all water leaks: Call a plumber to check for unseen leaks in plumbing and a roofer to detect leaks in roofs.

Seal damp basements or crawl spaces: Vapor barriers can keep moisture from entering the home’s air supply.

At Sobieski Services, Inc., our goal is to help our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey learn more about energy and home comfort issues, especially HVAC and plumbing issues, so they can save money and live in healthier, more comfortable homes.

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