What are the EPA Guidelines for Humidity?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set clear guidelines for humidity. They recommend maintaining indoor humidity between 30-50%. This isn’t just a random range. They carefully designed this range for your home to prevent potential issues while keeping your home in optimal condition.

Incorrect levels have severe implications for your health, comfort, and valuable belongings. The EPA guidelines help you choose a perfect humidity control system that fits your indoor conditions.

Let’s find out in detail the EPA guidelines for humidity, why humidity control matters, how to measure indoor humidity, and how to control it.

What are the EPA Guidelines for Humidity?

Humidity levels differ for different spaces. Many factors contribute to this. Indoor conditions, such as poor ventilation, enhance indoor moisture levels. The activities you do, such as cooking and taking hot showers, also introduce water particles into the air in your home. Also, humidity may not be even throughout your home. Some rooms, such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, kitchens, and basements, are more prone to high moisture compared to living rooms and bedrooms. 

Choosing the correct humidity levels also depends on the type of space. Storage spaces often require low humidity. Also, electronics operate well when humidity is low. Therefore, the EPA provides flexible humidity guidelines so you can set a range that best fits your specific indoor needs. So, it is recommended that you follow these guidelines and choose suitable solutions, such as a perfect air dehumidifier, to control indoor humidity effectively.

EPA Guidelines for Humidity

According to EPA guidelines for humidity, you should keep your indoor humidity between 30% and 50%. There are several reasons why standards such as EPA and OSHA recommendations are flexible. The humidity requirements don’t stay the same for all the spaces throughout the year.

In winter you need to set higher humidity levels. Contrarily, in summer you need to set higher humidity levels. Moreover, the humidity requirements for storage rooms are different from those of living rooms and bedrooms. So, these standards and guidelines offer you a flexible range so you can choose the right system such as a whole house dehumidifier or a standard portable one based on your indoor conditions.

Why This Humidity Range Matters

This humidity range set by EPA matters as incorrect humidity levels trigger potential health problems, create discomfort, damage your valuable possessions, and even weaken your foundation.

So, when you control humidity, you:

• Prevent mildew and mold buildup
• Improve your health
• Enhance your comfort
• Protect your wooden and metallic goods.
• Reduce dust mite
• Improve your indoor air quality

If you’re dealing with humidty related issues, choose the best dehumidifier or humidifier to protect yourself as well your expensive belongings.

Sings that Your Home Humidity is Off

When your indoor humidity is off the EPA recommended range, you will notice certain signs. So, look for those signs and adjust your humidity settings accordingly.

Signs Humidity is Too High

• Musty and muggy feelings
• Condensation on doors and windows.
• Unpleasant odors
• Visible mold spots on your walls

Signs Humidity is too Low

• Your skin feels dry and itchy
• Your throat feels scratchy
• Static electricity
• Shrinking and cracking wooden furniture

You can use a hygrometer to check your indoor humidity. This simple electronic device tells you how moist your indoor air is. To get correct readings throughout your space, place it in different zones.

Modern smart dehumidifiers also feature humidity sensors. You don’t need sa separate hygrometer if your unit already has a built-in hygrometer. Remember the external temperature and indoor humidity. You can adjust your humidity settings or may need different solutions for winter and summer to stay compliant with EPA guidelines.

Read this blog to find out if air circulation reduces humidity.

How to Control Your Home Humidity Levels?

You can use different methods to control your home humidity levels. If your indoor conditions are mild, you can achieve optimal results with the help of natural ways. For example, just ensuring proper air circulation by opening windows and doors for a certain time helps. Whereas, sometimes you need a large dehumidifier.

Here are things you can do…

Improve Your Ventilation

Good internal airflow helps maintain balanced humidity levels. Humidity isn’t evenly distributed throughout your home. Some parts of your home feel more humid and some are less humid. This can be fixed by keeping your internal doors and windows open. You can use fans to improve indoor air circulation.

Also, it helps if you install ventilation fans in certain rooms. Specific rooms such kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry remain damp most of the time. Ventilation fans vent this damp air outside. Fresh air replaces this damp air. This makes your indoor environment fresh and comfortable.

Manage Your HVAC System

You know your existing HVAC system or air conditioner can be really helpful in controlling your indoor humidity. How effective your heating and cooling system will be depends on its performance and your indoor conditions. It can maintain proper humidity levels under normal conditions. In harsh conditions, you might need a heavy-duty dehumidifier.

Therefore, prioritize the maintenance of the HVAC system for optimal results. Schedule regular maintenance. Don’t forget to change the filter regularly based on the manufacturer's recommendations. Clean the air ducts annually. Instead of “ON”, set your thermostat to “AUTO”.

Control Moisture Sources

For better humidity control, fix the sources that add moisture to your indoor air. For instance, leaky pipes and faucets are major sources of humidity. Fix them right away. To prevent condensation, you need to insulate cold water pipes.  Reduce indoor activities that introduce humidity into your indoor air. For example, excessive cooking, washing clothes, taking hot showers, watering indoor plants,, and drying clothes indoors. Don’t leave your floors wet. Clean up spills immediately and mop your floors frequently.

Choose the Right Dehumidifier

If your indoor conditions are harsh and need extra controlling it, you can consider investing in a high-quality dehumidifier. Remember you need to choose a unit that best fits your room size and humidity conditions. A standard portable dehumidifier suit smaller spaces such as living rooms and bedrooms. 

For large rooms with extreme conditions, you should opt for an ultra-air dehumidifier. A whole-house solution is perfect if you want to control humidty throughout your home. For basements and crawl spaces, it’s recommended to choose basement dehumidifiers with drain hoses.

Conclusion

Following the EPA guidelines for humidty helps create a healthier and more comfortable indoor environment. So, make your indoor humidity lie between the recommended range of 30-50% to protect your health and belongings. Regular monitoring and managing humidity preserve your valuable assets and protect your health and home structural integrity.

So, add moisture to your indoor air when it is too dry. You can humidifier for this purpose. To remove excess moisture, install a high-quality dehumidifier in your home. For both humidifiers and dehumidifiers, choose a model with an auto shut-off feature to avoid over-humidification or dehumidification

Remember, you don’t need heavy-duty solutions all the time. Sometimes, you can achieve your desired humidity levels through natural methods or by installing ventilation fans in affected areas. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You need to find a method that suits your specific space.

Not sure how to address your indoor humidity challenges? Read blogs written by your expert staff or contact the support right away. At Aloraircommerical, we help you find the best solution for your indoor humidity problems.