How Humidity Affects Indoor Temperatures
Have you noticed how some summer days feel hotter than the thermometer shows, while some winter days don’t feel as cold? Humidity affects your home in a similar way.
High humidity can make your home feel warmer, leading to discomfort and high energy bills. Understanding the relationship between humidity and perceived temperature will help you better manage your home environment for maximum comfort and efficiency.
This page explores how humidity alters your home’s indoor temperature.
What is Humidity?
Humidity is the amount of moisture or water vapor in the air. When humidity is high, the air holds more moisture, affecting how hot or cold the temperature feels. Our bodies cool primarily through sweat evaporation, but the process slows when the air is humid, making us feel hotter as body heat isn’t released efficiently. As a result, a reasonable room temperature can feel sweltering when humidity is high.
How Does Humidity Affect Temperature Feel?
The impact of humidity on perceived temperature is so significant that meteorologists use the “heat index” to communicate how hot it feels when humidity is factored in. On average, homeowners prefer a cozy 72° temperature. However, when the relative humidity rises to 70%, the perceived heat or heat index increases to 78°. This high humidity can make the air feel about 5 degrees warmer than the thermometer.
Does High Humidity Affect Electric Bills?
Yes, high humidity affects electricity usage and increases utility bills. For every degree you lower indoor temperatures, cooling costs can increase by up to 3%, raising energy consumption and bills. Maintaining optimal humidity levels improves energy efficiency, helping you save on monthly expenses.
What Measures Home Humidity Levels?
Knowing the humidity level is the key to controlling it. A hygrometer measures humidity, and digital versions are often included with indoor thermometers. Experts recommend keeping indoor humidity between 30% and 50% for comfort and health. This number ensures optimal indoor air quality for health and safety.
How to Manage Humidity for Optimal Indoor Comfort
Proper ventilation is essential for optimal indoor comfort, especially in the kitchen or bathroom, where moisture is frequently generated. Using exhaust fans or opening a window makes a significant difference.
Consider using a dehumidifier, particularly during warmer months when humidity is high. Dehumidifiers reduce excess moisture in the air, making your home feel cooler. However, in drier months, a humidifier can add moisture to the air, which can help prevent skin dryness and respiratory issues.
Can a Crawl Space Affect Indoor Humidity Levels?
Crawl spaces significantly contribute to indoor humidity if not correctly managed. How so? Warm indoor air rises naturally (a principle called the stack effect). As it rises, it creates a suction at the lower levels of your home, drawing in damp, humid air from the crawl space or basement. This damp air increases your home’s overall humidity and leads to condensation, mold growth, and structural damage over time.
How to Prevent High Humidity
Preventing high indoor humidity levels is achieved through crawl space encapsulation and waterproofing methods. These solutions include:
- Vapor Barrier Installation
- Proper crawl space doors
- Sealed vents
- Dehumidifier installation
- Sump pump
- Interior drainage systems
Contact a crawl space professional for a free inspection and no-obligation quote. Preventing moisture and high indoor humidity levels prevents structural damage and ensures the safety and health of your home.
Contact Groundworks for a Free Inspection
Have you noticed reduced indoor air quality in your home? Groundworks experts provide free inspections to determine whether your home’s crawl space is to blame.
Contact us for a free inspection and no-obligation quote today!
Humidity FAQs
It’s best to keep relative humidity below 60%, with ideal ranges falling between 30-50%.
The energy usage of a dehumidifier varies based on its size and efficiency. Groundworks dehumidifiers are designed to be energy-efficient and remove up to 100 pints-per-day.
High levels of indoor humidity can certainly happen for a variety of reasons. When you have high levels of indoor humidity, it’s a good idea to look at the various reasons why you might experience problems with your home’s humidity levels overall.
- Humidity and Water Concerns
If the problem isn’t your crawl space, you might just live in an unusually humid area, which can create high levels of indoor humidity if you don’t take steps to avoid these rising grades of moisture. In these cases, you’ll typically need to install dehumidifiers to control the humidity throughout your home, which will also benefit your crawl space.
Continuing water problems can also indicate serious humidity concerns. For example, if your home has a leak in one of the rooms, that leak can significantly increase your home’s overall air quality, making it sticky and moist. That can be very damaging because it can cause additional waterlogging problems in the areas with the water leaks.
- Crawl Space Concerns
Although high indoor humidity can be caused by general home humidity and other water problems, this is something that develops slowly over time. If you notice a sudden uptick, it’s worth checking your crawl space, as sudden damage to the vapor barriers, vents, or insulation can immediately result in moisture invading your home.
When it comes to crawl space problems, humidity will be only one symptom among many. That makes it smart to check this area regularly and use your senses to detect the early warning signs. If the air feels damp or smells musky, you have an underlying issue that needs addressing. Likewise, you can search for signs of mildew or mold, which may have been growing unchecked in the area. Even if the issue isn’t coming from your crawl space, you’ll at least be able to inspect your crawl space to ensure that you’re not having any other problems.
