Mastering Humidity Control and Air Quality for Optimal Comfort and Health
The air in your home can have a significant impact on your overall health and well-being. According to the EPA, health effects people can experience due to poor indoor air quality include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and even respiratory and heart disease, as well as cancer.
While people may often look to indoor pollutants such as pet dander or aerosols, humidity can also play a role. As you design your home, pay attention to all pollutants in your house, which may inevitably lead you to indoor humidity control. Let’s take a look at a couple of tips in this arena and how you can enhance overall comfort and well-being.
Photo by Dmitry Zvolskiy
The Importance of Controlling Humidity in Your Home
Although humidity is commonly encountered in the outdoors, the air inside of your home can also have varying levels of humidity as well. Despite what you might have heard, humidity is not always a bad thing. In fact, it’s good to have some humidity in your home. The key is finding a balance between too much humidity and not enough.
If you have too little humidity, the dry air can cause many health issues, such as chronically dry and irritated skin, frequent sore throats, poor sleep quality, and sinus issues. In contrast, if there is too much humidity it could create a damp environment that leads to mold and mildew growth, which can worsen allergies and other health issues. Too much humidity can also be damaging to the structure of your home.
The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity levels between 30 to 50%. If your home is below this percentage, use a humidifier to increase indoor humidity to the recommended levels.
Overall, using a humidifier in your home can provide numerous benefits, which include:
Helping prevent colds and cases of flu by helping to reduce airborne viruses;
Improving skin and air quality and helping to relieve dry, cracked, itchy, and irritated skin;
Soothing sore throats and sinuses by moisturizing the airways;
Reducing allergies and allergy symptoms;
Reliving and even preventing the development of asthma;
Improving sleep quality.
Using a humidifier can significantly improve the overall air quality in your home, which can generally make your living environment more comfortable and conducive to better health. Indoor houseplants also tend to do better with higher levels of humidity, and plants are also known to help improve air quality.
Tips for Controlling Your Home’s Humidity Levels
In the summer months, air conditioners can actually help control the humidity levels in your home. Specifically, air conditioners can help dehumidify indoor air. As long as your AC is working properly, it can help keep moisture levels from getting too high.
Additional tips for controlling humidity levels in your home to ensure they don’t get too high include:
Making use of exhaust vents and fans: When you take a shower or cook in the kitchen, this can increase the humidity in your home. So make sure you are using exhaust fans and vents to draw the moisturized air out of your home.
Drying clothes and dishes on low heat: The heat settings on clothes dryers and dishwashers can also lead to an increase in moisture levels. So if you want to keep the humidity from getting too high, try air drying clothes and dishes, or use the low-heat settings if you have them as an option.
Reducing the number of indoor plants: Having plants inside your home is generally a good thing, but if you’re someone who has a lot of plants and a moisture problem, then you might need to either reduce the number of plants you have or try moving some of them outside.
Opening up the windows: If the moisture levels in your home spike, you can also try opening the windows to balance out the humidity.
Purchasing a dehumidifier: Of course, using an actual dehumidifier is always an option. If you particularly struggle with too much moisture in your home, a dehumidifier can help suck the moisture out and keep air levels more regulated.
It’s also important to clean your dehumidifier regularly if you use one, as a dirty dehumidifier can make the air quality worse and cause you to get sick.
Air Purifiers Can Also Help
If your humidity levels are under control but you are still having some health issues, you could have a problem with pollutants in your home. Indoor air pollutants can come from the outdoor air, but there are also things you do inside your home that can produce toxins and pollutants, such as cooking, burning candles, and using body sprays and hair products.
So if you are finding that you are often congested when indoors, if you sneeze a lot, have allergies, frequent headaches, or skin concerns, you might need to invest in a quality air purifier. You can get an air purifier installed along with your HVAC system, or you can purchase an air purifier separately.
DIY Tips That Can Improve The Air Quality in Your Home
The design of your home can also have an impact on the quality of your indoor air. So if you have the time, money, and resources, you can make some upgrades to your home that can help improve air quality and enhance your comfort and well-being long-term.
Numerous things in your home can contribute to toxins and pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This includes the paint you use, stains, furnishings, flooring, adhesives, textiles, and various other materials. So when designing your space, it’s important to keep the materials you are using in mind. Opt for clean products and materials as much as possible.
Biophilic design can also help improve your indoor air quality. This type of design focuses on integrating more nature and natural forms. You can prioritize this type of design in your home by:
Using eco-friendly materials, such as eco-friendly flooring and eco-friendly paints;
Upgrading your windows to bring in more natural light;
Decorating your rooms with air-purifying plants;
Upgrading your home’s ventilation system or opting for window designs that help improve air circulation and ventilation.
Designing living spaces that are less cluttered and easier to keep clean can also help you better manage the air quality in your home. For example, if you have a lot of materials in your home that capture dust and dirt, such as carpeting, you might want to consider upgrading to hardwoods or laminate flooring as it’s easier to keep clean. Spaces that are more open and that focus on clean lines and more minimalistic design are also much easier to keep clean and free of dust and dirt.
In Summary
Air quality matters. If you have never paid much attention to the air quality inside your home before and you struggle with your health, it could be that you need to improve your indoor air quality. Start with checking your humidity levels and seeing if things improve once you reduce or raise the moisture in your home. If you are still having issues, you can invest in a quality air purifier and even consider some home renovations that can help you create a cleaner, healthier living space.
Author: Miles Oliver
Cover image by Curtis Adams on Pexels
