Fix Leaks – Save Humidity in Your Home

I remember my old home quite well. It was a frame house built in the early 1900's. The windows were original wood double hungs with no weatherstripping. It had an uneven stone foundation with no sill sealer (Sill sealers are foam products used at the transition point between masonry foundations and wood framing systems. They stop air leaks.) In other words, there were massive air leaks into and out of my old home.

The funny thing about air leaks (really it's not so funny) is they are two way. If you feel a cold blast of air leaking around a window, door, baseboard, etc., there is an equal amount of heated air escaping to the outside. If this didn't happen, your house would blow up like a balloon.

Temperature is Everything

This exchange of air in the winter months can cause humidity problems inside houses. How, might you ask?

As air gets colder, it becomes denser. The molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and other gases get squeezed closer together. There is less room available for other things such as water vapor.

I know, I know what you're saying, "But Tim, the weatherperson says that the relative humidity is 60 percent or higher on an almost daily basis. In the summertime, this humidity level is very uncomfortable." Hey, you said the key word.......relative!

Weatherpeople measure humidity as it relates to temperature. For example, let's say it is 20 degrees F outside and the relative humidity is measured at 60 percent. If you were to "capture" say 10 cubic feet of this outside air, and then simply raise its temperature to 72 degrees F, the relative humidity of this same air would drop to around 8 percent! That is really dry.

Static Zots = Energy Loss

Normal daily activities release large volumes of water into the air inside our houses. If you shower, wash clothes or dishes, hang clothes in the basement (now that's a good idea!) to dry, etc., you release water into the air. In fact the air you exhale from your lungs humidifies the air (not to mention your perspiration.) Anyway, people who live in newer, well-built, air tight homes have noticed that they rarely, if ever, get zotted by static electricity. This is so even if they do not have humidifiers connected to their heating systems.

This lack of static electricity means that the humidity level inside their houses is higher, more comfortable. It also means that this humid air is not being diluted by drier, outside air. This means there are fewer air leaks. Want higher indoor humidity and lower fuel bills? Start by finding and fixing air leaks!

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