There’s nothing quite like walking into your home and sinking into that sticky, humid feeling. It might only be 75 degrees outside, but a humidity of 80% is going to make it feel so much worse. Humidity will even bring us discomfort late into the night when we’re trying to sleep. At that point, humidity is no longer a mild discomfort—it’s becoming a detriment to your quality of life.
Your best defense against humidity is, of course, a dehumidifier! The way it works is pretty simple—it reduces the humidity in your home by removing moisture. Below are just a few ways that dehumidifiers in Riverside, CA are helping homeowners.
Increases Comfort
A dehumidifier reduces the amount of moisture in the air. To understand why this is so significant in increasing your comfort, it helps to understand how humidity works and interacts with your body:
The normal range for humidity goes from 30% to 50%. This percentage is an indicator of how much moisture is in the air. Anything below 30% is too dry (which comes with its own problems). 50% and above is what most people have the worst time dealing with. That’s because high humidity interferes with your body’s ability to perspire.
The reason we sweat is to keep our body temperatures cool. As the sweat evaporates from your body, it leaves you feeling some relief. However, with a high humidity, the sweat can’t evaporate like it should, which leaves us feeling uncomfortable.
Improve Indoor Air Quality
Humidity does more than just make the air feel muggy, however. It also fosters the perfect breeding ground for mold, viruses, and bacteria. If left unchecked, it can create health problems for you and your family.
Have you ever had mold collect in your shower curtain? An environment that stays warm and damp will create mold. With enough humidity, parts of your home can imitate this process. Mold can be visible, appearing in the corners of your walls, or it can be invisible, sitting behind drywall, underneath carpets, and more.
Whether or not you can see the mold, you should at least be able to smell it. Call a professional HVAC technician if you suspect that mold is becoming a problem in your home.
Prevent Damage in Your Home
So now we know that humidity can make you uncomfortable and even sick, but did you know it can also cause damage? Humidity is essentially just excess moisture, which will cause objects to gather condensation on their surfaces. Such objects might include:
- Wooden floors and furniture can be warped or rotted by humidity.
- Drywall can absorb some moisture without a problem, but excess moisture can lead to damage and mold growth.
- Clothes and food can also be affected. If too moist, clothing and leather can grow mold. Foods meant to stay dry can absorb too much moisture and go stale.
A whole-house dehumidifier will help your home against these potential damages.
Say goodbye to humidity with a whole-house dehumidifier. Contact RKM Heating & Air Conditioning today for more information.