Indoor Humidity in the Winter

[BrianDT]

I have been struggling with condensation on my windows and then very dry skin or bloody noses this winter. We moved into a new home and I cannot get the humidity to stay constant.

It seems that I am either putting too much humidity in the air or not enough.

To check this, I am thinking of trying a humidity monitor. I found this one for $9.98 with free shipping. You can't lose.

Anyone have one?

AcuRite 00613A1 Indoor Humidity Monitor

 

[K man]

I have been struggling with condensation on my windows and then very dry skin or bloody noses this winter. We moved into a new home and I cannot get the humidity to stay constant.

It seems that I am either putting too much humidity in the air or not enough.

To check this, I am thinking of trying a humidity monitor. I found this one for $9.98 with free shipping. You can't lose.

Anyone have one?

AcuRite 00613A1 Indoor Humidity Monitor

Do you have a HVAC air exchanger in your house? If not you should look into one. If you do then you should be able to adjust the humidity levels on your humidistat units control on the unit.

 

[oosik]

Yes, I have an indoor humidity monitor. It is very dry here - 30-35% relative humidity. As long as it gets no lower than that - its OK.

 

[K man]

What type of heating do you use. If you have a furnace then you should have a humidifier built into it. I heat with a pellet stove and use my air exchanger a lot to control humidity. During really cold days I use the 20/ 40 recycling. Meaning the exchanger runs 40 minutes recycling air in the house and 20 bringing in fresh air and never had issues with condensation on windows.

 

[Scott65]

Do you know if your hvac unit is sized correctly for your house? It may be completely irrelevant, I probably don't have anything useful to add here. But your post doesn't say where your from, don't know if your running a/c, heat pump, or heat right now. My uncle is an hvac tech in North Texas, very humid. So the unit is sized to the house to keep it running for longer periods of time because it dehumidifies in ac mode. And I would assume heat pump as well. So that would leave you only having to add the amount of humidity back in that you had to have to stay sane.

I'm with you on the monitor, don't see how you could lose. My wife has the same issue with the nose bleeds. She said as a kid they would use one of those small room humidifiers. I never thought of them putting out so much to fog the windows

Edit: I think we were typing at the same time K man. Being from Canada, I'm willing to bet you've got a better grasp on how to deal with the cold. I start shivering if it drops into the 50s. But, sounds like the same technique, just different equipment

 

[tjcarguy]

I buy up cheap humidistats ( hygrometer ) whenever I see them, some work some don't . Then I use the simmering potOwater on the stove trick to stop chapped lips. ---Trevor

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Oh, i feel for you. Keeping the Humidity down has been a quest. In the newer tighter homes, one person not turning on the bath fan can increase your humidity. Humidity monitor will help, window sweating not a good indicator. I ended up running our ex-changer all winter long and having to use the bath fans to keep it in the 30%-35%, range never had the issue of it getting too dry. Once it warms up we run the ex-changer intermittently. We never had issues and didn't need the bath fans until the kids got older. We have a top of the line Venmar ex-changer, there are two types EVR and HVR and what type of ex-changer you use depends on where you live. We have an EVS dou, which allows us to exchange the air in the winter and the summer. I have never opened a window, all the air is filtered and exchanged, very little dust and no odors in the house. House before this one didn't deal with the window sweating issue and the windows rotted. Had to replace half the windows. Told myself I would never have that happen again. Also, new, new home with everything off gassing humidity is hard to control. If this is the first winter in the home and you do have an ex-changer and it is in fact running i wouldn't start to panic until next winter. Depending on your area it is code to have some form of ex-changer. Now some builders will cheat and use a scuttle. They do work, but they defeat the purpose of a new tight built home. Basically they run a hole in your cold air return to the outside with a damper in it. When you run your bath fan it creates a negative pressure and fresh air comes in through the opening to the outside.

 

[Looking4new]

I have a pot of water on the wood stove all winter long. In my room right now the humidity is running 22%. I am about 40' away from the stove. The temperature in here is 76 F.

 

[Pirate]

I have a heat pump system. Can't stand dryness. I strive for 45% but never manage to hit it. I use this gizmo from Lowes. I sucks up about 6 gallons per day but the house still stays around 35%.

Shop Essick Air Products 5.4-Gallon Console Evaporative Humidifier at Lowes.com

I have looked at a humidifier to add to the plenum from Honeywell but it looked like a PITA to install for only a few months of use. Plus, when our inside humidity climbed up to 45%, it seems I still need to put tons of lotion on to keep my skin from itching. Thought, what's the point of running that noissy-assed humidifier all day just to have to still put lotion on.

 

[Sodo]

I am thinking of trying a humidity monitor. I found this one for $9.98 with free shipping. You can't lose.
Anyone have one?

Got exactly that one, from Amazon, today. I got it to put in the camper, so I know if its too humid. Don't know any numbers yet, just learning.