Summertime in Providence, often means rising indoor temperatures. Before you know it, it’s sweaty, sticky skin season on the East Coast. That’s humidity hard at work, and it can be a real problem for Rhode Islanders trying to stay comfortable, healthy, and keep their homes in good condition. Here are just a few of the ways that humidity can affect the inside of your home and the people spending lots of time in it: your family.
High Humidity = Low Comfort
This one is a no-brainer, and obvious for anyone who’s ever sweated through a Rhode Island summer. Humidity levels can make it feel hotter than it actually is, so even if your indoor thermostat says it’s only 70 degrees, humidity levels above 80% can increase the “feels like” temperature to the high 70s!
Controlling your indoor humidity levels can go a long way towards staying comfortable.
High Humidity Can Lead to Harmful Mold Growth
Mold needs three main things to grow: temperature, humidity, and a food source, and many of the building materials in your home provide a tasty snack for mold, including drywall and wood. When you allow indoor temperatures and humidity levels to rise in the summer, you’re inviting mold in your home, which is bad for two reasons:
Mold Can Damage Your Home
When moisture gets into wood, it can cause warping and make it weaker. Mold can also eat away at your walls and contaminate the insulation in your basement, walls, and attic as well.
Mold Is Bad for Your Health!
More importantly, though, mold in your home can result in unhealthy air and can cause health issues for the people living in it. Some of the symptoms of indoor air quality problems like mold include:
Respiratory problems and difficulty breathing
Nasal and sinus congestion or irritation
Burning and watering eyes
Dry, hacking cough or sore throat
Skin irritation
Fight Back Against Indoor Humidity with a Whole Home Dehumidifier
Not only will controlling the humidity levels inside your house result in higher home comfort, you’ll keep your family (as well as your home itself) safe and healthy all year-round.
At CARJON, we’ve seen plenty of Rhode Island homes that struggle with high indoor humidity during the summer months, even when they already have central air conditioning installed (one of the byproducts of air conditioner operation is dehumidification). That’s why we offer whole home dehumidifiers.
A CARJON dehumidifier can be installed directly inside your central HVAC system to extract excess moisture out of the air circulating and deliver higher comfort throughout your house. Instead of buying multiple portable dehumidifiers and trying to figure out where to put them in your home, reduce humid air throughout your entire house with a single whole home dehumidifier.
