Tips for an Overly-Humid Home

Have you ever noticed condensation collecting on windows in your home during the cold winter months? An excess of humidity is what causes this condensation, forming on the coldest area of a wall, which is normally the windows. As modern homes become more energy efficient, window condensation can be a year-round problem for observant homeowners. This condensation can eventually collect on the windowsill, causing wood to rot and mold / mildew to form, which is neither good for your home nor your health.

Many homeowners use portable humidifiers or install whole house humidifiers to combat the dry air produced by a conventional forced air heating system.  Unfortunately, these humidifiers often add to an overly humid indoor environment, which becomes the source of the moisture which causes condensation. For concerned homeowners, there are several courses of action one can take.

Below are some tips for reducing humidity in the home which won't require any major purchases:

• Air out your house a few minutes each day.
• Use exhaust fans in your kitchen, laundry and bathrooms.
• Vent gas burners, clothes dryers, etc. to the outdoors.
• Shut off furnace humidifiers and other humidifying devices in your home.
   

For more severe problems, a purchase from indoor air quality equipment may be required.  Here are some ideas and links to high-quality products which battle humidity problems in the home:

• Upgrade your bathroom ventilation fans. Bathrooms are the number one source of moisture/humidity in the home so they need to be well ventilated. Quieter and potentially more powerful bathroom fans can be purchased to replace your old, noisy, ineffective fan.
• Purchase a continuous ventilation solution.  It is possible to purchase fans that run continuously at low levels - providing the constant exhaust of stale air while consuming very little energy.
• Install an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) or Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV).  These air exchange units both exhaust stale air from the home AND bring in fresh air.
• Install a quality dehumidifier.  Actively attack high humidity at it's source (often the basement or crawl-space).  These products use a refrigeration process to extract moisture out of the air. There are many high-efficiency dehumidifiers and clean air dehumidifiers on the market that will also purify the air throughout your home.