Humidity and Your Home's Comfort

In southwestern Ontario, we experience a huge range of temperatures throughout the year, and related to this cycle is humidity.

What is humidity?

Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air.

The level of humidity in a home can affect your family’s physical comfort, the home’s structure, interior and contents as well as impacting the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems. 

When considering humidity in a home, it’s important to note that every home is different and how a family lives in a home is also unique: essentially, how we live affects our home’s humidity levels.

Activities that affect humidity levels within a home include:

-        Cooking

-        Showering

-        Washing clothing or dishes

-        Houseplants

During the winter months:

-        The air is drier and less humid compared to the warmer months

-        Our homes are sealed up to protect against the cold air

Low humidity in a home may result in:

-        Itchy and dry skin

-        Increased chance of colds, flu, and infections

-        Damage to furniture and the interior or your home

-        Static electricity

High humidity may result in:

-        Musty smells and a muggy feeling

-        Increase in allergens, thereby, allergies

-        Condensation on the windows, which may lead to mould growth

-        Mould, mildew and bacteria growth

-        Damage to wood furniture and contents

-        Sleep difficulties

Monitoring and controlling humidity in your home

Because each home and every family is unique, a comfortable and healthy humidity level can fluctuate in the winter months between 35% to 55%.

A hygrometer or an indoor comfort monitor is a low-cost method to determine the level of humidity in your home.

If you find your home to be consistently dry, a humidifier can increase the moisture in the air, raising it to a comfortable level.

If your home is consistently humid, a dehumidifier can remove the excess moisture in your home. Be sure to also use stovetop and bathroom exhaust fans when necessary.

If your home was built in the last 20 years, there’s a good chance that your home has an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator). Many of these units feature a humidistat, which helps to regulate the humidity in the home’s air. When the humidistat detects that there’s too much moisture in the air, the HRV until will be activated.

It’s important also to consider other factors which may be affecting the humidity level in your home.

-        Does your home have a leaky basement?

-        Is the sump pump lid sealed or air-tight?

-        Is your crawl space healthy, sealed and a controlled environment? 

We offer free basement & crawl space humidity control estimates in southwestern Ontario; we’d be pleased to help you: 1-866-277-1277