Humidity & Your Home.
During the winter, excessive moisture can be generated by human activity. This can lead to the indoor ambient humidity level in the home to increase. There are recommended norms. 30 to 40 % percent being an average.
To understand this better, high humidity or water vapor within a home can cause moisture that condenses when in contact with cooler/colder objects.
Glass is one such object we all can relate to. Like when the mirror in your bathroom gets fogged up. This is water vapor or water as a gas returning back to bulk water on a cooler object.
What is humidity.
There are two types of humidity.
A: Absolute humidity.
B: And relative humidity.
A: Absolute humidity is the actual amount of water vapor in a specified volume of air.
B: Relative humidity is the ratio of moisture in the air to the maximum amount of moisture the air can hold, which varies depending on the air temperature.
NOTE: Hotter air can hold more moisture.
How does it get in my home?
Your furnace humidifier, if you have one, or other mechanical/non mechanical devices or systems you introduced into the home to increase the humidity during certain times of the year.
- Cooking certain foods also increases the humidity in a home.
- Cleaning the home and yourself increases the humidity in your home.
- Imagine a large families, the showers they take daily.
- Washing and drying clothes.
- The lovely plants you display.
- The hobbyist and aquariums.
- The exercising enthusiast.
Those are examples of how water vapour is increased in a home.
RH and Comfort.
Today's homes are more energy efficient. They are built tighter to exchange less air with the exterior atmosphere.
You must exhaust any above average moisture in your home.
Everyone by now has been bombarded with TOXIC MOLD SCARE TACTICS, but the reality of mold is that you must be aware of your environment. Yes organic growth can be a concern but it all starts off with preventative and predictive measures.
Be smart and do not afraid to learn. I will cover air/heat exchanging in the home shortly.
If you think you have issues with above relative humidity in your home and require consultations and a report on your homes overall health, give me a call. (514) 489-1887.
Thank you for reading my blog.
Robert Young