Humidity reading indoor

[Zoozles]

Would appreciate some advice. The humidity reading in one of our rooms is currently at 84% - is this something to be concerned about? We have patio door and all windows open daily and they’re not closed until we go to bed so plenty of ventilation in the house. We don’t dry washing indoors, and although it did rain yesterday it’s not raining today. Would you be concerned by this? There is no evidence of water on the walls : mould or bubbling plaster etc, but I do sometimes feel the air feels a bit stale / musty in this room.

Its very humid at the moment not sure what the readings are but i can feel it in the air.

I'd check every day for 30 days and go with an average. If the average was moe than 50 I'd buy a dehumidifier.

Thank you both, we do have a dehumidifier which I could use, and you’re right about the air being humid outside - although it’s not raining it does feel damp which I hadn’t really thought about impacting the indoor reading (especially as we have windows open). I’ll continue to monitor it and use the dehumidifier to bring it down in the meantime n

It’s the weather, it’s been incredibly humid. We always run a dehumidifier overnight and it collected twice as much water as usual just to maintain 55.

Weather is humid at the moment.

Your indoor humidity will equilibriate with the outdoor humidity if you leave the windows open.

I normally leave my windows open in the house over summer. When it gets to winter I close them all apart from the trickle vents and bring the house humidity down to about 60% and keep it there.

Someone earlier mentioned 50%, but that is quite hard to achieve for me, I could probably get there if I left the dehumidifier on 24/7.

@GasPanic Do you find 60% is sufficiently low to avoid any problems? We are on the coast and to maintain 50-55% I have to run 2 dehumidifiers for about 8 to 10 hours each which does rack up the electricity bill. When we moved in I was shocked to find coats and shoes in cupboards went mouldy after a while so invested in good dehumidifiers (keep the cupboard doors open when they are running) but it’s an expensive on going cost as well as the initial outlay.

The ideal range of humidity for human health (avoidance of respiratory problems and mould) is 40-60%.
But if the temperature drops, the humidity will increase (relative humidity effect) even if no more water vapour is produced, because cold air is saturated more quickly then warm air because it can't hold as much water at lower temps.

So if you have a house where one room is colder than the others it will be more humid in there.

Probably worth checking other areas of your house to see what your overall humidity is, but ventilation or running dehumidifier would be a good idea at 80% because it will be beneficial to mould.

I have a humidity problem at the moment but ventilation doesn't seem to reduce it much, so I think it's rising damp. You might find a moisture meter useful.

TBH I don't think 70% is that bad.

60% I think is fine. To maintain that I do put some effort in in winter. For example boiling pans with water for ages, no. Showering always skim the surfaces and push any water down the plughole to prevent it evapourating. And extract any extra humidity with fans.

And in winter keep windows generally closed except for trickle vents, because the house humidity is generally lower than the outside humidity (even accounting for temperature).

In my house the ratio of space to people is high ! So living humidity generated is pretty low and keeping to 60% not that hard. If you have a lot of people in a small space then more difficult.

I think if I was running dehumidifiers 24/7 then I would be looking very carefully at the efficiency of each unit. Some are more efficient and do a better job than others.

It's supposed to be no more than 50.

Good luck with that in the UK if you are living as a family in an average sized house.

I think even I would struggle to keep much less than 50 unless I was running at least 2 dehumdifiers 24/7, and my living humidity output is probably really low compared with most people.

I do find keeping the humidity on the lower side has some bonuses. You spend less money on heating because dry air tends to feel warmer than damp air at the same temperature. Of course you have to figure out whether the cost of keeping the humidity low is cheaper than the cost of keeping the heating high.

I’ve got the Meaco Arete, one 20L and one 12L. The default setting is 55. They are pretty efficient compared to others but last winter I think it cost me about an extra £30 a month to run them overnight and dry washing when necessary. They don’t run constantly and switch off when they get to the set level.
There’s just 2 of us in a large flat (1200 square feet) and we have high ceilings which helps but we are by the sea and lower ground floor which definitely doesn’t!
I’m going to be more diligent about lids on pans and mopping down after showers!

If humidity outside is high (often 80%+ here) and the windows are open the indoor humidity will be affected.

Might be worth considering changing one of the dehumidifiers for a dessicant one if you run your house at lower temperatures.

Between 20C and 15C the extraction efficiency of compressor ones falls off a cliff.

I looked at the desiccant ones but it rarely dropped below 19 degrees inside last winter despite being quite frugal with the heating (2-3 hours a day) so probably not worth the extra cost and I think noise? I might try dropping the setting to 60 and see if we can save on bills without compromising on air quality. Since we used the dehumidifier we’ve had no problems at all with mould or condensation so it’s definitely worth it to me.

If it smells musty, I'd consider other options. Do you have a roof above or pipes under floor that could be leaking?

Our living room is 66% right now, outside 61% . From memory our readings are never more than 68/69 and that's with clothes drying indoors.