How to Lower Humidity in Your Home

Maintaining a balanced level of humidity in your home is crucial for both your comfort and your health. Too much moisture in the air can lead to an array of problems, such as mold growth, pest infestations, and even structural damage. Let’s take a look at how you can effectively lower the humidity in your house. 

The Importance of Controlling Crawl Space Humidity

Your crawl space plays a significant role in the overall humidity levels of your home. By controlling humidity in this area, you can significantly impact the indoor air quality and energy efficiency of your house. 

Installing a Vapor Barrier System

At Foundation Support Specialists, we understand that the first line of defense against crawl space humidity is a high-quality vapor barrier system. A vapor barrier prevents moisture from rising from the ground into your home. Our team uses the robust CrawlSeal™ 20-mil crawl space vapor barriers, more than three times thicker than many residential code minimum requirements, ensuring your crawl space is well-protected against ground moisture. 

The Role of Dehumidifiers

The most effective way to manage humidity in your crawl space, and by extension your home, is by using a dehumidifier. Once a vapor barrier is installed, dehumidifiers work by extracting excess moisture from the air, maintaining a comfortable and healthy humidity level.  

Why Store-Bought Dehumidifiers Fall Short

You might consider buying a dehumidifier from a retail store and placing it in your crawl space. However, there are a couple of issues with this approach: 

• Limited capacity: Most consumer-grade dehumidifiers can only remove between 20 to 70 pints of water per day. This capacity may not be enough to effectively manage the humidity levels in your crawl space. 
• Manual emptying: Many dehumidifiers need to be emptied by hand. This task can be inconvenient and time-consuming, particularly if accessing your crawl space is challenging. 
• Risk of overflowing: Even dehumidifiers with self-draining features may overflow if they cannot keep up with the high humidity levels typical in crawl spaces. This overflow can compound the moisture issue rather than resolving it. 

Additional Small Measures to Lower Humidity in Your Home

While installing a vapor barrier and using high-capacity, specialized dehumidifiers are among the most effective ways to combat excess humidity, there are several smaller steps you can also take to further enhance the dryness and health of your home. Here’s a numbered list of actions that can contribute to a lower humidity level: 

• Regularly Air Out Your Home: Opening windows and doors allows for air circulation which can help reduce indoor humidity, especially during drier weather. 
• Use Exhaust Fans: While cooking, showering, or using the dishwasher, use the exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathrooms to help remove moisture. 
• Reduce Indoor Plants: Plants release moisture into the air. If you have a lot of indoor plants, you may want to consider reducing their number or moving some outdoors. 
• Fix Leaks: Check for and repair any leaks in your home’s plumbing or roof. Even small leaks can significantly contribute to increased humidity over time. 
• Dry Clothes Outside: If you have the space and weather permits, dry your clothes outside to prevent the moisture from the wet clothes from increasing indoor humidity. 
• Insulate Cold Surfaces: Insulating your windows, exterior walls, and other cold surfaces can reduce condensation, which in turn helps lower humidity. 

Remember, every bit helps when it comes to maintaining a comfortable and healthy home. Alongside our professional solutions, these additional steps can contribute to a drier and healthier living environment. 

The Foundation Support Specialists Solution

At Foundation Support Specialists, we provide an advanced and efficient solution for your humidity problems. Our crawl space dehumidifiers are engineered specifically to handle the unique conditions of crawl spaces. 

• High capacity: Unlike typical dehumidifiers that remove only about 25-75 pints of water a day, our specialized crawl space dehumidifiers have the capacity to extract up to 105 pints per day. This makes them capable of efficiently managing humidity levels in even the largest and most humid crawl spaces. 
• Quiet operation: Our dehumidifiers are quiet, operating at just 55 decibels. This low noise level ensures they won’t disrupt your home environment during their operation, even during late hours. 
• Energy efficient: Bearing the EnergyStar certification, our dehumidifiers offer top-tier protection against humidity without significantly increasing your utility bills. This means you can enjoy a drier and healthier home environment without the worry of excessive energy consumption. 
• Self-draining: Our dehumidifiers feature automatic self-draining systems, completely eliminating the need for tedious manual emptying. They are designed to consistently perform in the challenging conditions found in crawl spaces, ensuring your home remains dry and healthy day after day. 

Get in Touch with Foundation Support Specialists Today