An indicator such as air humidity is of great importance for human health. Considering that any living organism consists of water, it is difficult to exaggerate the effect of air humidity on human health.
Agree, you, too, have repeatedly noticed a deterioration in well-being in a too humid or too dry room? And a long stay in rooms with high / low humidity can even lead to serious illness.
Below we will tell you how to adjust the humidity level in rooms to an optimal level for life and health.
The content of the article:
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Increasing humidity - good or bad
- Causes of increased humidity
- Additional remedies for dryness
- Is dry air good for humans?
- Conclusions and useful video on the topic
Increasing humidity - good or bad
Optimal humidity level in the room, its indicator is considered to be in the range of 30-60%. Deviation from the norm becomes the cause of poor health and, in general, brings discomfort to everyone in the room.
You can measure air humidity using special devices. It will be difficult to draw conclusions about the level of humidity based solely on your own feelings.
High humidity is dangerous not only for humans. Furniture, books, clothes and shoes in the apartment suffer. For storage of household items, humidity is considered normal within 50%, and for most indoor plants, a humidity of 60% is ideal.
A moisture indicator that reaches 70% is considered dangerous. With this level of moisture, furniture becomes unusable, and boots left in the closet until next season may lose their soles.
But the worst thing is when mold and various kinds of fungi appear in the room, for which a humid environment is simply ideal
Thus, it becomes dangerous to breathe indoors, as the ingress of mold spores into the lungs can cause chronic colds or lead to pneumonia.
High humidity is especially dangerous for children and elderly people. So, if the moisture level in the apartment is not observed, the children will frighten their parents with constant diseases. In older people, excessive humidity in the environment leads to the development of rheumatism.
We described in detail how to deal with mold in an apartment in this material.
Causes of increased humidity
The humidity level in the room may rise temporarily.
This is usually due to factors such as:
- placement in an open aquarium room;
- frequent spraying or watering of indoor plants;
- constant drying of large quantities of laundry after washing directly in the room;
- cooking for a large family without using the hood.
All of these factors can indeed increase humidity, but not for long or by only a few tenths of a percent.
If the moisture level is steadily increasing or remains constantly high, in spite of the elimination of temporary factors, it is worth looking for more global reasons.
Reason 1 - faulty roof or walls in the house
This factor is the easiest to identify. If water is pouring from the walls or ceiling or wet spots are visible on the decoration, then the cause is directly in the building.
Cracks in the wall of the house can cause not only increased humidity, but also the appearance of mold. It is difficult to fix this problem - major repairs will be required, which will not be cheap.
After the completion of the repair of the walls and roof, it will be necessary to do the interior decoration, since all the walls inside the apartment are already affected by mold. To completely get rid of it, you will need to process the walls before finishing. special solutions.
Reason 2 - the heat balance is disturbed
It is quite simple to identify this reason - if condensation constantly appears on the windows, then there is a clear temperature drop on the face. The window can "cry" and with a temporary temperature difference, but if such a phenomenon is observed systematically, then it is time to pay attention to the problem.
This problem is associated with such a physical concept as Dew point.
The dew point directly depends on the air temperature and the humidity level in the room. The warmer the temperature and the higher the humidity, the higher the dew point
First you need to identify those walls of the apartment that are coldest. Perhaps a crack has appeared on them, which can be quickly repaired.
However, if the wall does not show any visible deformations, there may have been a design or construction error — for example, slabs that are too thin. In this case, you will need to insulate the wall, and the problem will fix itself.
Reason 3 - faulty ventilation
Regardless of when the apartment was commissioned, there are probably ventilation holes in it, which are usually located under the ceiling. They are rectangles closed with a mesh and serve for air outflow, while the inflow occurs through open windows and doors.
The supply and exhaust ventilation system of the room in the apartment allows you to ventilate them even without installing additional equipment
In the event that one or both channels are clogged at once, stuffiness and high humidity appear in the room. Fallen leaves, dirt, branches, etc. can cause inoperative ventilation. trapped in the duct. Owners of private houses often face this problem.
To eliminate the blockage, you will need to call specialists to your home who will clean the ventilation, or fix the problem yourself.
In multi-apartment houses, the owners often close up the ventilation holes, cover them with household appliances or furniture, without thinking at all that the air exchange in the room will be disrupted.
The ventilation openings must not be covered. And for more efficient air exchange, an exhaust fan can be installed, which is mounted directly into the ventilation shaft and accelerates the movement of air flows.
Additional remedies for dryness
Knowing what high air humidity is and how it threatens households, I want to say goodbye to this misfortune as soon as possible.
Having eliminated the cause of the appearance of dampness, the owner of the apartment may face the fact that the level of humidity has not dropped.
In order to eliminate dampness in the apartment, you can use special means - dehumidifiers and air absorbers or water-absorbing tablets
However, it should be borne in mind that these funds work only if the owners of the apartment have managed to eliminate the cause of high humidity.
Is dry air good for humans?
It would seem that so much effort has been put into “drying up” the air, and here is a new problem. It got too dry. This can also happen if no moisture removal devices have been used. Determining too dry air is very simple - households will find it difficult to breathe, and indoor flowers will dry out, despite abundant watering.
Usually, this phenomenon manifests itself in winter, since cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air, and the operation of radiators aggravates the situation.
Regardless of what caused the drought, low air humidity often leads to the following consequences:
- drying out of the mucous membrane of the throat, nose, which is fraught with frequent respiratory diseases;
- palpable dryness in the nose, irritation of the mucous membrane;
- dry skin of the body, peeling and redness;
- static electricity accumulates in the apartment;
- cracks appear on wooden furniture and interior items.
Raising low humidity is much easier than eliminating damp. The first step is to check the ventilation.
Regular ventilation can optimize humidity levels, but if this is not enough, other methods may be worthwhile.
Dry air is very dangerous for children, as it leads to their frequent illnesses, and also greatly dries the baby's skin, which can provoke allergies or skin diseases
The first group of products that can help you cope with low humidity are completely free. Our grandmothers also used them. So, try putting bowls of water near the radiators. A similar method is to hang wet towels or sheets on the radiators. The essence of this method is that water, gradually evaporating, will saturate the air with itself.
The next option is not to use electric tumble dryers and hang them exclusively on radiators. It is advisable to spin the wash at low speed so that the clothes are as damp as possible.
The fastest way to increase humidity is to spray the room with a spray bottle, paying particular attention to the curtains. You need to use this method with extreme caution, without damaging the wallpaper or getting on the furniture.
If possible, you can purchase a professional humidifierthat will maintain an optimal moisture balance around the clock.
Conclusions and useful video on the topic
This video will show you how to maintain an optimal indoor humidity level:
Thus, any deviations in the level of air humidity from the established norm have a detrimental effect on human health. High humidity leads to the appearance and development of mold on walls and furniture.
Too dry air can cause chronic diseases - allergies, bronchitis. Therefore, as soon as such a problem is detected, it is worthwhile to immediately begin to eliminate it, identifying the root cause.
How do you normalize the humidity level in the room? You may be aware of other ways to deal with excessively dry / humid indoor air. Share them with our readers. Leave your comments in the block below.
