Heat and humidity levels can have a direct effect on the air quality in your home. In the winter levels that are too low can cause dry skin and occasional nosebleeds. During the summer levels that are too high promote mold, dust mites and other harmful conditions. Excessively high humidity can cause condensation that damages windowsills, appliances, and furniture.
A properly functioning air conditioning system is the most effective tool for maintaining proper temperature and humidity levels in your home. The temperature can be easily found on the system’s wall display and remains consistent throughout the home. While you are away, an average temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended. Unfortunately, understanding the home’s relative humidity can be more complicated. The relative humidity level in the home should be in the range of 40% to 55%. A range is used because the relative humidity can fluctuate throughout the home and because the accuracy of the hygrometers used to measure relative humidity provide a range of accuracy of plus or minus 5%. For this reason, a homeowner’s reading of 45% is accurately interpreted as the home’s relative humidity is somewhere between 40% and 50%.
Some thermostats include relative humidity displays. It is important to understand that these wall-mounted displays can be affected by a host of factors, including the temperature and humidity of the wall on which they are mounted, exposure to sunlight, air flow from a supply duct, etc. Standalone hygrometers are also available and can be placed throughout the home for consistent monitoring.
GMan Home Watch recommends the use of a humidity display either on a thermostat or standalone devices in the home. During each visit, we use a portable hygrometer pen to independently measure the home’s temperature and relative humidity. As your eyes and ears, our home watch reports reflect temperature and humidity readings available from all displays in the home. If we observe unexplained elevation in the temperature and humidity levels, we will encourage you to consider having your AC company inspect the system for corrective action.
This article is intended to help you understand the basics of relative humidity, how to interpret GMan Home Watch of Punta Gorda reports, and what you can do to keep your home healthy. For informative articles on other important topics, follow us on Facebook@gmanhomewatch or visit our website, www.gmanhomewatch.com.