When there’s too much moisture in the air in your home, perspiration can’t evaporate from the skin, so everyone in the household feels uncomfortably hot and sticky. High humidity also creates an environment where dust mites thrive, and mold and mildew can flourish, which can adversely affect the health of anyone with allergies, asthma or other breathing difficulties. Running your air conditioner can help dehumidify your home, but you can also try these natural alternative methods to get rid of excess moisture.
Open Your Windows
Many activities of daily living add moisture to the air inside a home, but opening the windows to exchange it with drier outdoor air can help lower the indoor humidity level naturally.
Ventilate Your Kitchen and Bathroom(s)
Moisture from showering and bathing in the bathroom(s), and cooking in the kitchen make your home’s interior more humid. You can limit the amount of moisture that stays indoors by using the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans routinely. Make sure your fans are ducted directly outdoors, and not into the attic or a wall cavity, and let them run for 15-20 minutes after moisture-generating activities.
Hang Dry Your Laundry
Running your clothes dryer is a time saver but it can also make your indoor space more humid. You can minimize the amount of moisture that the dryer adds to the air by making sure it’s vented outdoors and regularly removing built up lint from the screen and the ducting. Hanging your clean laundry outdoors to dry takes more effort, but it ensures that any water in the fabric evaporates outside where it won’t affect your air quality.
Pay Attention to Your Houseplants
Most houseplants need to be watered regularly, and that extra moisture is bound to evaporate and make your indoor air more humid. To lessen this effect, consider moving some plants outdoors onto a covered deck or patio. You can also cover the soil on any that remain indoors to help reduce the amount of moisture that evaporates.
For more advice about reducing humidity in your Lorain-area home, contact us today at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about reducing humidity and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area