New Home Care Guide

Humidity and Condensation in Your Home Older homes were built drafty. Moisture and dryness traveled evenly and directly through the exterior walls. It’s just the way homes were built back then. With time and progress, today’s builders construct a tighter home envelope. This change in home building brings about a new set of concerns, one of which is excessive humidity and the condensation it can cause. Humidity is measured in terms of percent and referred to as “relative humidity” or RH. Relative humidity is the combination or sum of all sources that produce or create moisture. Merely living and breathing in your home adds moisture to the air.

Some examples that naturally create moisture in a home are: • Bathing/Showering • Breathing • Cleaning /Laundry • Cooking • Plants, Pets, and Fish Tanks

This vapor mixes with the warm air being distributed throughout your home by your furnace making it feel warmer to your skin. Water vapor travels with the warm air and is naturally attracted to cool or cold surfaces. Some people find more moisture helps prevent shocks from static electricity. Being that interior humidity is directly related to the exterior temperature, you should be monitoring the RH level in your home. Simple gauges are sold in the thermometer sections of local stores that can take this measurement for you. Water vapor is invisible to the human eye, but its affects can be seen. Air circulation helps distribute the water vapor and lessens the opportunity for said vapor to stop, cling and collect causing condensation on windows. A constant use of a ceiling fan can create this air circulation for you. Also, keep blinds pulled up from window sills and ledges to allow the air to circulate at the window. Keeping blinds closed will cause condensation to collect on window sills or ledges and cause drywall damage. In addition, if condensation is not wiped away from the window sill or ledge mildew may form on the surface. Keep in mind, some window blinds may enhance the condensation factor. One of the higher culprits to this is the recess mounted “pleated” style blind due to the polymer coating it has. This helps trap the moisture against the cooler surface of the glass.