What is the Humidity Doing to Your Plumbing?

Maintaining the right humidity in your home is essential for comfort, but it's also good for the physical construction of your house in general. Too little humidity can mean bad news for your skin and static in the air, but too much humidity can be quite uncomfortable and may cause you to wish you had moved somewhere cooler.

High humidity isn't great news for your plumbing, either – and here's why:

The problem with high humidity

So why is too much humidity so uncomfortable, and why is it bad for your plumbing? Basically, humidity is the amount of water vapor that's in the air at any given time. When there is too much humidity in the air in your house, it's the ideal environment for different types of mold and mildew to grow in the bathroom and elsewhere, and it's even possible that water damage could result. Down the line, this could mean bacterial growth and poor health for you due to all the pathogens in the air..

What's the optimum level?

You want the humidity in your home to be anywhere from 30 to 50 percent. Your air conditioning system can keep the humidity levels down, but it's important to get the HVAC checked to make sure it's still performing its job at the optimum level. To decrease the humidity, you can invest in a home dehumidifier and adhere to common best practices like not taking long hot showers during the day and sealing structural cracks with caulking in order to prevent outside air from coming in.

If you think you're having any issues with the humidity in your home, you can check by investing in a temperature and humidity gauge, or a hygrometer. To get to the bottom of your humidity problems, call you local Roto-Rooter plumber today!