The inverse of most humidity threads!!!!!!

[EatenByLimestone]

I actually have too much humidity! I've been trying to keep it up in the room with the stove. Appearantly the warm air has been transfering the humidity to the cold areas of the house and leaving it there condense on my baseboards. I hope the furnace being on with the cold weather takes care of it. I'm starting to get mildew...

Matt

 

[LLigetfa]

...condense on my baseboards.

It sounds like you don't have a proper sillplate gasket and are getting air infiltration at the sillplate. This causes the baseboard to be colder than the ambient air temperature of the room causing the condensation. You could reduce the humidity but are better off to stop some of the infiltration. The best way to stop infiltration is to plug up leaks where warm air is escaping out. Less air escaping means less makeup air infiltrating.

 

[wallis54806]

I had this problem in my last house.
The basement floor was wicking moisture up from the ground like a giant humidifier. The house was sealed tight, but not insulated well, and the baseboard areas in the far corners of the house had mildew. The worst was behind a bookcase against an exterior wall.

 

[Beanscoot]

I'm not sure what you mean by "I’ve been trying to keep it up in the room with the stove." Are you trying to add moisture to the room by heating water with the woodstove? If so, the obvious solution is to stop adding water to the air this way.

It's normal for excess moisture to condense on cold surfaces. In the winter if we boil a lot of water for pasta then the windows get all steamed up for a while.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I've never had the problem before this year. Last spring I picked up two whole house humidifiers on clearance at WMT. They have been sitting by the woodstove and have been doing a great job keeping the humidity up near the stove. I'll be keeping them off for a while to see if it helps.


Matt

 

[gzecc]

Time to get a hygrometer. You need to know what the relative humidity in your house is. Best is 50%. Too much will cause mold growth, too little will cause repiratory problems.

 

[par1]

I have alot of moisture in my house also. been this way for years and cant figure it out? always have moisture on my windows.my has it half way up the other one up a 1 or so. the windows are about 15 years old (HURD) aluminum and wood inside. starting rot them.i keep the house a 69 degrees.should i check the heat exchanger in my furnace?

 

[LLigetfa]

i keep the house a 69 degrees

If the humidifier doesn't have a humidistat, consider upgrading to one that does. I adjust my humidistat for lower humidity when it is really cold.

If you don't use a humidifier, consider installing an HRV or service your HRV if you have one.

We keep the gas furnace set at 68 and the house may cool enough overnight for the furnace to come on. If it is brutally cold out, we jack it up to 70 and those two extra degrees are enough to keep the windows dry. Mind you, they are modern low-e argon and only the lower edge sweats on really cold days.

 

[Redox]

Time to get a hygrometer. You need to know what the relative humidity in your house is. Best is 50%. Too much will cause mold growth, too little will cause repiratory problems.

Yes, you need a hygrometer. With two humidifiers it is entirely possible to have too much humidity. While 50% may be "ideal" for comfort, it usually isn't ideal for the house. At colder temps, 35% is probably a more realistic number. As the humidity moves through the house, it goes through walls and can condense inside them if they are not insulated well. This is the reason for a vapor barrier. It stops the moisture close to the inside of the house and keeps the insulation dry. If the moisture is condensing on the inside of the house, it is due to a lack of insulation or too much infiltration.

Chris

 

[par1]

i get moisture on my windows about 1/2 to 1 or alot higher.my house is wrapped but why doesnt it dry out? i used to years ago have to run the humidifer not any more.not sure why

 

[LLigetfa]

The humidity could be from lifestyle, hot showers, big pot of spaghetti, higher temps in basement, indoor laundry, broken dryer vent, not using exhaust fans, storing wood indoors, etc.

Maybe you have an HRV but haven't maintained it. maybe it stopped working. Check the filters. Clean off the fuzz from the outdoor air intake.

 

[homebrewz]

The humidity could be from lifestyle, hot showers, big pot of spaghetti, higher temps in basement, indoor laundry, broken dryer vent, not using exhaust fans, storing wood indoors, etc.

Good point.. Come February, no making maple syrup in the house. My friend's mother tried boiling down a small batch and all of the wall paper peeled off her kitchen walls!

 

[RedRanger]

Time to get a hygrometer. You need to know what the relative humidity in your house is. Best is 50%. Too much will cause mold growth, too little will cause repiratory problems.

Yes, you need a hygrometer. With two humidifiers it is entirely possible to have too much humidity. While 50% may be "ideal" for comfort, it usually isn't ideal for the house. At colder temps, 35% is probably a more realistic number.

Just quoting you because humidity is a fickle thing.

Eg: I bring my humidifier to the downstairs rec-room with the insert for the winter and use a de-humidifier in the same room for the summer.

Summer with no de-humidifier=mould.

Winter with the humiidfier=comfort.

Now, these are of course all to do with personal comforts or lack of. I suffer from dry skin itch when the humidity drops below 40%. And the colder it gets outside, the dryer it gets inside. Hence the humidifier where the insert is located for the winter.

So I am happy when my hygrometer reads between 40 and 50%. Below that, and my psoralysis really starts to get to me.

Oh, and just for laughs, the cats "hate" being petted when the humidity drops to 35% or less. They find the whole ordeal, quite shocking!! :lol:

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I pushed my golden retriever further down the couch yesterday and could hear the popping and snapping of the static electricity.

With the humidifiers off the humidity dropped like I figured it would. The mildew is dry. A few more days of drying and I'll wipe it off. Hopefully I can keep it from coming back.

Matt

 

[Highbeam]

Another angle is dust mites. The allergy lady told me that keeping the house below 50% RH kept them unhappy so I strive for a dry house.

In my experience, sealing up the home and eliminating infiltration actually makes things more humid. The leaks of cold outside air actually means that you are bringing in dry air once you warm it up.

I have several meters and have 32% RH in the stove room and 60% in the bedrooms for whatever reason.

Turn off the humidifiers if you are getting mold.

 

[Redox]

Another angle is dust mites. The allergy lady told me that keeping the house below 50% RH kept them unhappy so I strive for a dry house.

50% is probably the maximum you want in the real world. All the bad things start to happen when the humidity goes over 50%. I'm running A/C or dehumidifiers if it gets up that high. 40% is a more realistic "ideal" humidity. Our house was flooded once; I can't afford to let it get humid or the mold might get us...

In my experience, sealing up the home and eliminating infiltration actually makes things more humid. The leaks of cold outside air actually means that you are bringing in dry air once you warm it up.

Ditto. Heat doesn't remove humidity, it just tends to drive it out of the house through the air leaks. This is one of the reasons for an ERV.

I have several meters and have 32% RH in the stove room and 60% in the bedrooms for whatever reason.

Well, that's because it's "relative"! (rimshot) :coolsmile: The dewpoint is going to be the same throughout the house, but the temperature changes the relative humidity.

Turn off the humidifiers if you are getting mold.