Your Home’s Ideal Humidity and How to Maintain It
Maintaining balanced humidity in your Dayton, OH home is key to protecting your indoor air quality (IAQ). Having too much or too little moisture in your indoor air can negatively impact your health and diminish the integrity of your windows, doors, drywall, and more. The following is everything you need to know about establishing and maintaining ideal humidity.
The Ideal Indoor Humidity for Dayton, OH
Expressed as a percentage, relative humidity measures moisture vapor in the air in relation to the amount of moisture required for saturation. In Dayton, the optimum target is 38%. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ideal relative humidity for homes throughout the nation is between 30% and 50%. Other sources place this range between 40% and 60%.
How to Know if Your Home Is too Humid
Problems with indoor humidity quickly make themselves apparent. If you have too much moisture in your indoor air, you might notice beads of condensation on your windows and walls, and your living environment may feel clammy or muggy, even when your HVAC system is on. Although heaters and air conditioners extract excess moisture from the indoor air, they can’t always combat overly humid conditions on their own.
If excess humidity is left unchecked, it can eventually lead to warped building materials and widespread problems with mildew and mold. Overly humid homes often have dank, unpleasant odors, especially when their air conditioners are on.
Signs You Need More Moisture in Your Indoor Air
If turning your heater on leaves everyone feeling stuffy and congested, this is probably due to insufficient moisture. Much like excess humidity, overly dry indoor air can cause adverse structural changes in building features made of wood, particle board, and other construction materials. Among the most noticeable signs of low humidity is a rapid build-up of static electricity. If people in your household constantly “shock” one other when coming in contact, your indoor air is too dry.
Having Your Home’s Humidity Measured
The best way to determine whether your air is too humid or too dry is by scheduling indoor air quality (IAQ) testing. In addition to identifying abnormally high levels of indoor contaminants, these tests also measure relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and more. When your IAQ assessment is done, you’ll have a detailed report that you can use to determine which integrated HVAC accessories will provide the necessary improvements.
Since 1949, we’ve been proudly serving Dayton, OH and the surrounding cities. We offer air conditioning, heating, plumbing, and indoor air quality services. You can also turn to us for water heaters, whole-house air purifiers, and humidification and dehumidification equipment. To find out about our preventative maintenance plans or schedule service, contact Butler Heating & Air Conditioning now.
