Indoor Humidity in the Winter

[txdon]

I have a Acurite weather station

http://www.acurite.com/media/catalo...08d6e5fb8d27136e95/0/2/02032c-alt-800x800.jpg

which also tells the inside humidity. With the house heat-pump running most of the day it shows 51% humidity now. I also have a de-humidifier running most days in the winter in the closet to keep it 30% in there and the bathroom area. It's always too humid here and we also have inside window condensation to deal with. I have aluminum window frames which get cold and then condensation forms on them. In the summer the AC takes care of the humidity and there is no problems.
The dehumidifier I have that is taking out a lot of water is this one from Walmart.
Keystone Energy Star 70-Pint Dehumidifier - Walmart.com

 

[Pirate]

Wow. Some of you are struggling to lower humidity while I am struggling to raise it. Go figure.

 

[SandburRanch]

Using this calculator the relative humidity can be calculated if the room temperature and dew point temperatures are known. Dew point temperature at the glass surface will of course be when condensation begins to form. Example: when we solve for relative humidity and the room temperature is 75°F with the DP being 40° the humidity is 27 %.

Dew Point Calculator

 

[Scott65]

Wow. Some of you are struggling to lower humidity while I am struggling to raise it. Go figure.

Ha, just what I was thinking. It's amazing to learn the different daily struggles from one end of the continent to the other. I could only imagine the other side of the world.
The goal here in west texas in the summer (since that's what we spend most of our time in) is definitely to lower humidity.

 

[SandburRanch]

Ha, just what I was thinking. It's amazing to learn the different daily struggles from one end of the continent to the other. I could only imagine the other side of the world.
The goal here in west texas in the summer (since that's what we spend most of our time in) is definitely to lower humidity.

And even west TX can vary to the most extreme. In summer a RH reading of 6-10 percent at Dalhart TX is common. Not all that different from Death Valley.

The RH in different areas of the U.S. can quickly be found at the National Weather Site link below. It gives Crosslake MN when opened but just enter the zip or city you be looking for in the upper left box.

National Weather Service

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have an accurate weather station also and it presently shows 40% inside with 76% outside. It is a bit dry but that is about average for winter here.

 

[Patrickdozer]

Humidity here is in the low 30's and no condensation on windows. Heat is wood stove all winter. Summer is different with Hi humidity and condensation requiring a dehumidifier.

 

[s219]

We have an Aprilaire 800 whole-house steam humidifier mounted on our HVAC system (geothermal) and it does a nice job. I manually set it to maintain 35% relative humidity when it's very cold (below 20F), otherwise it gets set to 45%. It runs whenever the heat is on and humidity is too low, and will also activate the HVAC blower to check and adjust humidification if heat hasn't run for an hour. The unit has an option to connect an outside thermometer so it can automatically set the appropriate humidity level, and I may add that at some point in the future.

We didn't have this at our old house (had forced hot air gas heat there) and always kept a smaller humidifier running in our bedroom. Still, I had a lot of congestion/sinus issues back then. With the whole-house humidifier at our new house, I am a lot more comfortable, even when we run our fireplace all day long. In fact, I go to work now and can feel how **** dry and uncomfortable it is in my office!

In the summer, running in AC mode, I have measured the relative humidity in our home to be in the 50% range most of the time.

I have a small handheld thermometer / hygrometer I use to check on things periodically:

UEi Test Instruments DTH10 Digital Thermo-Hygrometer - - Amazon.com

 

[J_J]

Excerpt: For cold climates.

If outside temperature is 20 to 40 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 40 percent. If outside temperature is 10 to 20 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 35 percent. If outside temperature is 0 to 10 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 30 percent.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I just installed a new heat pump last year so my numbers reflect our somewhat mild winters here in NC...
With the heat pump on typically my RH runs in the 25 to 28 range in the winter...
I have several very nice guitars so I keep them closed and in their respective cases with appropriate humidifiers in place...
I only need to do this in the few colder months that we have which is Dec-Mar...
The rest of the time my RH is in the 40-50 range which is more acceptable...