How To Dehumidify A Room And Protect Your Home: Tips And Tricks

Your home is where you should feel the most comfortable. One common cause of discomfort in the home is high humidity – making your space feel hot and sticky. But high humidity can also cause damage to your home.

Let’s go over what causes moisture and humidity in your home and tips and tricks for how to reduce humidity in a room naturally.

Why Some Rooms Are More Humid Than Others

Several factors influence the humidity levels of a room, including weather, ventilation, design and activity. Rooms without windows or with blocked air vents may have a hard time getting fresh, cool air and become more humid.

Even common activities like running a dishwasher, boiling water or showering can create moisture in the air. This is why kitchens and bathrooms often have higher levels of humidity.

Basements also experience high humidity. Since they’re underground, they’re routinely damp and typically require mechanical dehumidification to continuously reduce excess moisture. It’s important to know how to waterproof your basement because it’s different from using natural dehumidifier methods.

Why Humid Rooms Can Be A Problem

Not only is too much humidity uncomfortable, it can also affect your health and your home. Too much indoor humidity can cause dehydration and affect your sleep. Because it can cause mildew, mold and bacteria growth, it can also irritate your allergies, asthma or other health problems.

The need for mold removal won’t be the only problem humidity can cause. It could also create structural damage, like cracks in the foundation, wood rot or rust. Along with the home itself, it can damage items inside the home like your artwork, wallpaper, books, important documents and furniture.

How To Dehumidify A House

Several options for dehumidifying a room require only simple changes in your activity or a few inexpensive purchases. While most of our tips involve natural methods, some may require a special appliance or substance to help.

1. Buy Dehumidifying Products

Some devices can remove moisture from the air, improve air circulation or heat a room without adding more moisture.

You can create your own homemade dehumidifier. Rock salt, calcium chloride, activated charcoal and even baking soda can be used to remove moisture and absorb odors.

Keep in mind that baking soda isn’t as powerful as the other solutions and should only be used in small, enclosed spaces – like your cupboards or kitchen pantry. The effectiveness of these solutions will depend on the size of the space and level of humidity.

2. Consider Purchasing An Appliance

There are appliances out there to help you maintain an appropriate amount of humidity in your spaces.

Fans can help circulate the air and help move it to a less-humid area. They can also help with cooling by moving air over your skin to lower your body temperature. Meanwhile, space heaters add heat to a room without adding new moisture. This decreases humidity while removing the chill from a space.

Of course, one of the best appliances for reducing humidity in a home is a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier kicks on when the humidity rises above a certain, preset level. Once on, the machine uses a fan to pull in the humid air, run it over a refrigerated coil to allow the moisture to condense and collect inside a small tank. Once the moisture is removed, the dehumidifier pushes the dry air back into the room.

You can get a portable dehumidifier that you can transfer from room to room or get a whole-house dehumidifier that connects to your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and works to keep an even level of moisture throughout the whole house – not just one room.

3. Change Your Humidity-Producing Habits

Simply changing some of your habits at home can also help decrease humidity. Try taking these steps to get rid of moisture in the air:

• Adjust your shower routine. Long, hot showers are notorious for steaming up the windows and increasing humidity in a bathroom. One way to reduce it is by taking shorter and/or cooler showers.
• Open the windows. When cooking, running the dishwasher or after showering, open a window to let the steam out and bring fresh air in.
• Turn on the fans. Ceiling fans or exhaust fans are great to use when cooking or showering. Exhaust fans suck in the humid air and push it outside through a vent to allow fresh air in, while ceiling fans keep air moving to prevent moisture buildup.

4. Maintain Your HVAC

Even when you change your habits or use a dehumidifier, you can still experience higher humidity levels because certain items or problems in the home are causing them.

Your HVAC system controls the temperature and humidity levels in your home. The furnace expels dry heat while the air-conditioner removes moisture from the air as it cools it.

To keep your unit working properly, consider adding these habits to your routine:

• Change the air filter every 3 months.
• Keep the space around it clear and uncluttered.
• Hire a professional to inspect and clean it annually.

As a homeowner, it’s important to budget for routine house maintenance costs, especially for your HVAC system. The inspection and cleaning will uncover any issues and help ensure it’s running efficiently and ideally save you some money in the long run.

5. Swap Out Your Plants

Some house plants can add moisture to the air through evapotranspiration. This is the process of water moving from the roots to the leaves’ pores, where it evaporates into the air. Water can also evaporate into the air from exposed soil.

If you can’t do without plants, consider swapping your house plants for air plants. Air plants don’t grow in soil, and they absorb moisture through their leaves. A few popular options include the Pink Quill, Sky Plant, Brachycaulos, Cacticola and Bulbous air plants.

6. Take Care Of Water Damage Quickly

When you have water damage in the home, you’ll want to take care of it right away for multiple reasons. First, any standing water will evaporate into the air, adding to the room’s humidity. Second, if you don’t find the source of the leak and correct it, you’ll continue to have water entering the home.

Water damage shouldn’t be taken lightly. It could be a sign of plumbing or foundation issues or could eventually endanger your home’s structural integrity. Along with finding the source of the problem and fixing it, you can also take proactive steps by diverting water away from your home.

How To Dehumidify A Room: FAQs

Let’s go over some of the frequently asked questions about how to dehumidify your house.

What is the ideal level of humidity for my home?

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that indoor humidity levels should be kept between 30% – 50% but never above 60%. Lower humidity levels decrease your chances of mold growth, pests and dust mites.

How do you measure humidity in a home?

One of the most common ways to measure humidity in your home is with a humidity gauge or meter. You can buy these gauges online or at your local hardware store.

You can also use a fresh glass of water and add three to four ice cubes. Wait a few minutes and check the glass. If it’s dripping with condensation, your room has high humidity levels. But, if there’s no condensation, then your air is too dry.

How long does it take to dehumidify a room?

How long it takes to dry out a room depends on the size of the room, the humidity level, amount of water damage and size of the dehumidifier.

If you experienced a basement flood, it could take as little as a few days or as long as a few weeks on its own. But if you run a dehumidifier in your basement, it could take between 24 and 72 hours to return to normal levels.

What are the best ways to control moisture and humidity in my home?

As mentioned earlier, you can control moisture and naturally reduce humidity in a room in several ways. Some of the EPA’s recommendations for controlling moisture include:

• Repair and waterproof leaks right away.
• Lay a plastic cover over dirt in your crawl space.
• Ensure your clothes dryer vents to the outside.
• Use area rugs instead of installing carpet on concrete floors.
• Move furniture away from wall corners and blocked vents to promote air and heat circulation.

The Bottom Line: Eliminate Pockets Of Humidity In Your Home

Finding the right level of humidity in your home has a number of health benefits and keeps your home protected from damage caused by moisture.

It may also take some experimenting to find the right balance from small changes to your lifestyle or requiring the help of a device. And maintaining the right level of comfort in your home is just one of the many lessons you’ll learn about owning a home.

For more tips on homeownership, read the homeowner guide section of our blog.