Furnace Doctors / Monday, May 23, 2022

What Causes a Home’s Humidity Levels to Fluctuate Wildly?

Humidity—we either love it or we hate it. While some people relish in the sauna-like feeling of a muggy summer’s day, others would like nothing better than to retreat inside to the air conditioning! One thing that everyone can agree on, though, is that it’s important to manage and control your home’s humidity levels for the sake of your residential indoor air quality. We dive into the details in our HVAC services blog.

But what happens if your home’s humidity swings like a pendulum—from high to low and back again? What causes this, and how can you get things back under control? Furnace Doctors, your Saint Paul Park providers of whole house humidifier installation and more, has all the answers below.

Air Temperature

While it’s a myth that warm air “holds” more water than cool air, warm air does tend to be more humid than cool air. This is because, as water warms, it’s more likely to go into a gaseous state—hence humidity—according to Colorado State University.

What this means as far as residential indoor air quality goes: when your home air temperature rises and falls and you don’t have the proper equipment to compensate, you’re likely to experience fluctuating humidity levels. It’s just physics! A checkup from your HVAC contractor, as well as a whole house humidifier, can help manage this issue.

Air Leaks

Your home is designed to function optimally when its exterior is maintained. If your home suffers from air leaks—weakened areas where exterior and interior air mingle—the weather outside can have a drastic effect on your home’s humidity, since they allow the entrance of outdoor air that isn’t consistent in that sense.

While a well-working HVAC system is certainly important in terms of managing this, you might also consider finding and locating the air leaks, then sealing them. The United States Department of Energy has some handy advice on this.

A Malfunctioning HVAC System

Remember how we said that air temperature affects humidity? Two things that affect air temperature: your heating and your cooling system. If they aren’t working consistently, they can’t keep your home at a consistent temperature, hence the fluctuating humidity levels. The only solution to this one? Get a vetted provider of HVAC services on the premises, ASAP!