What Can I Do About Humidity in My Home?

Does your Harrisburg home feel more humid than it should? High humidity levels don’t just cause you to feel uncomfortable—they can be hazardous to your health and damage your home.

Tired of the discomfort and ready for a change? No matter what type of indoor air quality (IAQ) or air conditioning (AC) problem you’re having, our HL Bowman professionals are here to offer assistance. 

Enhancing your indoor comfort is our priority, and we know nothing spoils this more than having an excessively hot and humid home. You can always turn to our experts to improve your level of comfort—just give us a call.

What Can High Levels of Humidity Do to My Home?

High humidity levels can be concerning and can negatively impact your home in the following ways:

• Expand your doors
  Too much humidity in your Harrisburg home can cause doors to stick and become too tight for their frames. You may have a hard time opening or shutting them, and paint may chip off.
  
• Promote mold and mildew growth
  If humidity levels exceed 60 percent, the moisture in the air can lead to mold and mildew— causing damage to your home and your health. Be proactive by keeping the levels of humidity within an appropriate range of anywhere from 30 to 50 percent.
  
• Damage your walls, floors, and furniture
  High levels of humidity can result in paint and wallpaper bubbling or peeling off your walls. You may notice condensation on your walls, cabinets, and windows. Mold and mildew from excessive moisture could even set into your wood floors, carpet, couches, and beds.

How to Reduce the Effects of Indoor Humidity

Control the humidity levels inside your Pennsylvania home by following these strategies:

• Turn on your air conditioning
  Air conditioning systems are designed to reduce humidity and keep you comfortable by removing warm air and providing circulation of cooler air. But your air conditioning system can’t do its job properly if it’s not on.
  
  Check your thermostat to ensure your system is set to On and reduce the temperature if you feel it’s not cool enough inside your home. You can also adjust the fan setting to On instead of Auto so the blower will circulate cool air throughout your Pennsylvaniahome until it reaches the temperature set on your thermostat.
  
  Adjusted your thermostat appropriately but still experiencing high humidity levels in your home? Be sure to keep up with routine maintenance and tune-ups. Our HL Bowman professional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) maintenance services will help ensure your system is operating as efficiently as possible.
  
• Use your indoor fans
  If everything is working properly with your air conditioning system, try turning on any indoor ceiling fans you have. This will provide additional circulation and encourage a cooler atmosphere while also reducing humidity.
  
  You should always turn the bathroom ventilation fan on every time you take a shower. Showers promote humidity, resulting not only in leaving condensation on your mirror, walls, and shower doors, but also in forming a breeding ground for mold.
  
• Open and close windows according to the weather
  Is the outdoor temperature cooler than inside your Harrisburg home? Try opening the windows to help improve ventilation in your home.
  
  Alternatively, if it’s hot outside, be sure to close any open windows. When hot, humid air from outside leaks into your home, you cause your air conditioning system to work harder than it has to and prevent it from effectively controlling humidity inside your home.

• Install a whole-home dehumidifier
  Not getting the results you want? Nothing is going to be as beneficial as adding a whole-home dehumidifier. Our HL Bowman professionals can install a whole-home dehumidifier to help remove moisture in the air.
  
  Enjoy the benefits of ideal air quality while also reducing the risk of mold and mildew growth from excessive moisture. Plus, you will no longer have to force your air conditioning system to overwork itself in an attempt to control the levels of humidity on its own in your home. A whole-home dehumidifier can work with your air conditioning system to provide the best results for humidity control.
  
  If you’re conscious about your energy usage, be sure to opt for an ENERGY STAR^® certified dehumidifier, which removes the same amount of moisture in the air as standard dehumidifiers but uses 15 percent less energy to do so, according to ENERGY STAR. 

Turn to Our Professionals to Achieve Your Indoor Comfort Goals

Living in comfort is achievable, and you deserve to experience nothing less in your Harrisburg, PA, home. For any and all of your indoor air quality and air conditioning concerns, our HL Bowman professionals are just a phone call away. Call our team of experts today at 717-561-1206 or request service online.