ways to raise your home humidity

When the humidity levels in your home are low, it can be brutal: think of chronic dry skin, irritated eyes, chapped lips and an itchy nose. If you have wood or plant-based furniture, they may shrink or crack due to low humidity. For plants that don’t thrive in low humid conditions, their flowers and leaves may dry up, while the leaves of other plants may curl inward. But there are easy ways to raise your home humidity. 

What are Normal Humidity Levels?

In winters, humidity levels may drop to 20% or lower. Cold weather leads to dry air, so humidity levels naturally drop as temperatures decrease.  But according to Mayo Clinic, humidity levels between 30- 50% are ideal. You may use a hygrometer to keep track of the humidity levels within with your home.

How to Raise Your Home Humidity

The key to raising your home humidity is using heat resources to help move water vapor quickly into the air, and speeding up natural evaporation at the same time. Here are some of the ways to raise your home humidity: 

Use a humidifier 

Setting up a humidifier in your home can improve breathing and restore your comfort. With properly humidified air, you have less chances of getting chapped lips, irritated eyes and throat, and dry skin. There are portable humidifiers available, but they don’t last as long as whole-house humidifiers. Either way, humidifiers may be the most efficient and effective solution if your home has low humidity levels in the colder months. 

Humidifiers can potentially save you money on utility bills, too, if the warmer air enables you to lower the thermostat a couple degrees. 

Leave the bathroom door open while showering

Steam and humid air gets accumulated in the bathroom every time you take a shower.  When you leave the door open while doing so, the steam escapes into other rooms in the house. This releases excess moisture. It also helps to turn off exhaust fans that suck out humid air. 

Place containers of water in rooms to dry out

Placing containers or bowls of water near window sills, will also add moisture to the air. Exposing it to sunlight is ideal, since it speeds up the evaporation process. If you don’t have a wide window sill, just place the containers away from spots where someone can accidentally knock them over. 

Place plants in a dry room and water them daily 

Plants release most of the water they take in, raising the humidity level of the air around them. If you place several plants together, they release more moisture back into the air. There are houseplants that absorb humidity, but in general, plants bring humidity to their surrounding environment. 

Boil water on your stovetop

When you boil water on the stovetop and allow the steam to permeate the house,  it releases excess moisture into your home. 

Let’s Make Your Home More Comfortable

Do you need to set up a whole-house humidifier? We offer a wide range of solutions to make your home as comfortable as possible. You may schedule an appointment through our app or online!