During Southwest Ohio’s hot summer months, one wants to feel sticky or muggy in their home.
If you are looking to relieve the discomfort in your home from high humidity, and improve your indoor air quality so you can enjoy your summer indoors, you are in the right place. We at Blue Ash Furnace & Air Conditioning present the following.
HOW TO LOWER THE HUMIDITY LEVELS IN YOUR BLUE ASH, OHIO, AREA HOME
1. Tune-up Your Air Conditioner
Your home’s AC unit usually helps to reduce the humidity levels in your home because it introduces cooler air while simultaneously removes warmer, humid air. As such, getting your AC unit tuned up annually, and frequently changing its filter makes it more effective. Keep in mind, anything that reduces the flow of air or causes your air conditioner to quit working is going to make things worse.
2. Utilize Exhaust Fans
If you are taking a shower or cooking on a hot stove, utilize all the ventilation fans available because cooking and showering raise humidity levels. Furthermore, when you are finished cooking and showering, leave these fans on for a while. They will help tremendously in reducing humidity levels.
3. Cool Off in the Shower
When the humidity is high in your home, the last thing you want to do is pour out a bunch of steam from a hot shower into the air in your home. Sure, we all love hot showers. But have you ever heard of the multitude of benefits of taking a cold shower?
With hot showers being such a foe of home comfort in some summer situations, cold showers might be worth consideration. If this doesn’t interest you, it’s still beneficial to at least lower the water temperature a few degrees to prevent the added steam to your home’s air.
4. Find and Fix Any Leaking Pipes
If you are trying to reduce indoor humidity levels, you need to find anything inside that could be adding moisture. Common culprits here are leaking pipes and faucets. So we suggest finding and fixing any leaks in your home. Wrap up any exposed pipes using insulators. This helps keep condensation from developing. Symptoms of home leakage include drywall stains, damp spots, and unusual water bills.
5. Clean Your Gutters
Although they are on the outside of a home, gutters can frequently cause interior water leaks that are bad for both your house and your humidity levels. This is one reason why you must clean your gutters regularly, ensuring your downspout directs the water away from your house at least six feet.
6. Never Hang Damp Laundry Indoors
Do you have certain clothing items you cannot put in the dryer? If so, you have probably used indoor drying racks, which is no big deal in the winter. In the summertime, however, this is not a good idea if you are trying to maintain humidity levels. Because drying damp clothing makes your home more humid, we suggest hanging your clothing outside.
7. Invest in a Dehumidifier
The best and surest way to get a handle on high humidity levels in your home is to invest in a dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers eliminate moisture from the air as it moves through the system. So, once the air finally reaches you, it’s nice, dry, and cool. And this is the way we want it to be in the summertime. As a bonus, if you invest in a dehumidifier, you won’t have to use your air conditioner as much. Humidifiers help your AC in keeping humidity levels low, which saves you money in the long run on energy bills.
8. Relocate the Plants in Your House
Although plants are refreshing, beautiful, and aesthetic, unfortunately, they release a good amount of moisture in the air inside. If you own a lot of indoor plants, they might be causing high humidity levels. You might benefit from moving them outdoors and relocating them to areas in your home with good ventilation.
9. Consider Charcoal Briquettes
Charcoal briquettes aren’t only being used for barbecuing anymore. Experts say they can be utilized as a useful dehumidification tool as well. Sound crazy? Believe it or not, it works. Simply take a few briquettes and arrange them in a container – a basket, a box, or a can will suffice. It turns out charcoal is extremely absorbent and will absorb the moisture in your air. Just remember to replace them every two to three months.
10. Crack Open a Window
As simple as it sounds, there are times when merely cracking open a window will lower your humidity levels. Just be advised, you shouldn’t do this too often or for too long while your air conditioner is running. Otherwise, it’s like our parents used to tell us, “we aren’t paying to keep the whole neighborhood cool.” This will run up energy costs.
FIND OUT OUR DEALS ON WHOLE-HOME DEHUMIDIFIERS
We at Blue Ash Furnace & Air Conditioning offer top-of-the-line products with all the latest technology and features. We also guarantee customer satisfaction.
So don’t delay taking control of your comfort. Call us today at (513) 216-5664, or schedule an appointment now or anytime by clicking here!