5 Ways to Lower Humidity in Your House

When indoor air gets muggy, it is more than uncomfortable — excess humidity invites mold, dust mites, and musty odors, and it makes the whole house feel hotter than it is. The healthy target is 30 to 50 percent relative humidity. Here are five practical ways to bring your home back into that range.

1. Open a Window

The simplest step first. Opening windows on opposite sides of the house creates cross ventilation that lets damp indoor air out and drier air in. It is especially worth doing during the activities that dump the most moisture into your air — cooking, showering, and running laundry. Just skip it on days when the outdoor air is more humid than the air inside.

2. Install a Vapor Barrier

A lot of household moisture seeps in through walls, floors, and crawlspaces from the damp ground and outdoor air. A vapor barrier — usually a plastic sheeting that creates a moisture-blocking seal — stops that moisture before it gets in. It is especially effective in crawlspaces and basements, the parts of the house most prone to dampness.

3. Clean Your Gutters

Humidity is not only an indoor problem. When gutters clog, rainwater overflows and pools against the foundation, then seeps into the basement or crawlspace and raises the moisture level inside. Keeping gutters clean and directing downspouts away from the house is a cheap, overlooked way to keep humidity down — the same logic behind our guide on keeping your basement dry.

4. Use Your Fans

Fans move air, and moving air carries moisture away. Run bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans during and after showering and cooking to push humid air straight outside, and use ceiling fans to keep air circulating so moisture does not settle. For a whole-house approach, a ventilation system brings fresh, drier air in throughout the home rather than one room at a time.

5. Install a Whole-House Dehumidifier

For humidity that will not quit, this is the real solution. A whole-house dehumidifier ties into your HVAC system and pulls moisture from the air across the entire home, holding a consistent, comfortable level automatically — no tanks to empty. It is the most reliable way to stay in that 30 to 50 percent range, and it can pull a surprising amount of water out of the air, as we cover in how much water a whole-home dehumidifier collects.

A Few More Small Habits

On top of those five, a handful of everyday habits chip away at indoor moisture: take shorter showers, dry laundry outside instead of on an indoor rack, and always run the exhaust fan when the bathroom or kitchen is in use. Your air conditioner helps too, since it removes humidity as it cools — if yours runs constantly but the air still feels sticky, it may not be sized or working right, which we get into in whether AC improves indoor air quality.

Get Comfortable, Balanced Air With Degree of Comfort

If your home stays muggy no matter what you try, the fix is usually a properly sized system and the right moisture-control equipment. Degree of Comfort evaluates humidity issues and installs indoor air quality solutions, including whole-house dehumidifiers, across Cincinnati and the surrounding Tri-State, including Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. We are family-owned, licensed and insured, with upfront, flat-rate pricing and a satisfaction guarantee.

Tired of sticky, muggy air? Call (513) 586-5107, ask about humidity control and indoor air quality, or request a free estimate and let our team handle it.