The summer heat can be rough, but as we all know it is humidity that is oftentimes the bigger problem. When the humidity gets out of control it can be downright oppressive; like you have a big, hot, wet blanket covering you. What’s the worst is no matter how hard you try and cool off it is sometimes not enough. When your home humidity gets out of control it can lead to a miserable summer.

The indoor activities you do like cooking, bathing, and laundry along with other factors like outdoor humidity and the quality of your home’s sealing and ventilation all play a factor in your home humidity during the peak summer months. Successfully controlling your home’s humidity levels can significantly improve your family’s comfort during the summer and help prevent damage to your home that results from high moisture. 

If your home is prone to high humidity or you want to improve your home’s comfort against humidity, try out these tips to keep your home cool and comfortable.

Air dry your clothes

Even if your laundry machine and dryer have an outside exhaust, doing laundry puts a lot of moisture into the air, especially during the drying process as we clothes are heated. This can lead to high humidity and dampness in your laundry room and spreading to all adjacent rooms.

A great workaround to getting your laundry done without raising home humidity is to air dry your clothes. Sure, the drying process may take a little bit longer than it normally would by running your dryer, but the amount of moisture you keep from adding to your home by letting them dry indoors or outdoors on a clothesline can be significant.

Properly ventilate your bathrooms

Along with drying machines, taking hot showers and baths are another common culprit of adding humidity to your home’s air. All the steam that hot water produces lingers and dissipates into the air throughout the house. Most bathrooms, however, are equipped with a work around to circumvent this issue.

Whenever you take a shower or run a bath, make sure you are running your bathroom ventilation system. Your vents can quickly push that moist hot air out of your house and prevent it from raising your home humidity. Keep those vents running for a few minutes after you finish too to make sure as much moisture is absorbed as possible.

Install a dehumidifier

Absolutely the most effective way to reduce your home humidity levels is to get a dehumidifier installed in your home. Whole-home dehumidifiers can be installed in your home’s duct work and efficiently work to draw the moisture out of your air keeping cool and comfortable all day long.

Dehumidifiers come with a couple of hidden benefits along with just keeping your humidity low. Being able to reach every corner of your home, dehumidifiers are more capable at preventing mold and mildew buildup than other humidity controlling tactics. Also, the dry air it leaves behind feels much cooler to our senses, meaning you won’t have to run your air conditioning at hard and may even be able to save a couple bucks on your upcoming energy bills.

Get some houseplants

Plants love water! They need it to survive. Luckily for humid homeowners, there are some plants that love moisture so much that they can actually absorb significant amounts straight out of the air and help keep your humidity at bay.

Of all the ways to combat humidity in your home, this solution is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing. Adding some plant life to your home brings some color and excitement as well as well as helping to manage your home’s humidity. Not just any plant will get the job done though, as there are certain plants that do it better than others. We found a nice resource of some common houseplants that are great against humidity including peace lilies reed palms.

Keep your thermostat on AUTO

How you use your home’s thermostat can have a significant impact on your home’s humidity as well. For instance, did you know your home can much more efficiently control humidity if your thermostat is set to AUTO? Having an understanding of the difference between AUTO and ON can help explain why.

When the thermostat is set to AUTO, the fan in your AC system only blows when it is in a cooling cycle. When it isn’t blowing, your system has the ability to drain the excess water and moisture it has pulled out of the air. When your thermostat is set to ON, the fan is always blowing even when it isn’t cooling. This means all that moisture doesn’t have a chance to properly drain and it may even be being blown right back into your house. While there are some benefits to running your thermostat at ON, if you want to best control humidity, keep your thermostat set to AUTO.

If you want to keep your home humidity low this summer, these solutions can all make a difference. But, one of the most effective methods of reducing humidity is with a home dehumidifier. Hoosier Indoor Air proudly serves the Indianapolis area with heating and cooling services, including the installation of whole-home dehumidifiers. Give Hoosier Indoor Air a call today at 317-888-9111 for your home estimate or to learn more about how a dehumidifier can help keep you and your family cool and comfortable.