Since we use heat more often in the winter months, moisture levels in our homes tend to lower. Low humidity levels can leave your skin feeling dry, can hinder breathing, and even cause static electricity…ouch. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways we can do to increase the humidity levels in our homes.
5 Ways to Increase Home Humidity Levels
1. Use a Humidifier – Humidifiers range in size from those that filter through your entire home to those that are best suited for one room of the house. This is the best and easiest way to add humidity quickly but it’s also the most costly.
2. Boil Water on Stove – Boiling water on the stove will add humidity to your home as the water evaporates. Depending on the size of your home, it may not adequately circulate throughout the house. However, you can keep fans on low and keep your HVAC fan in the “on” position to encourage circulation.
3. Distribute Bowls of Water Around Your Home – Placing bowls or buckets full of water in strategic places around your home will help add additional moisture to the air. The downside, if you have kids (or clumsy adults!) is that they could easily get knocked over.
4. Collect Shower Water – When taking a shower, you can keep the drain plugged to hold water in the tub until the shower is needed again. This works in a similar way to the bowls but, again, use caution if children are around.
5. Hang or Line Dry Clothes – Every little bit of moisture helps, even if it comes from damp clothes that are placed on hangers to dry.
Incorporating some or all of these tips should increase humidity levels in your home but this list is certainly not exhaustive. Do you have any creative ways for adding humidity to your home?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting. My husband does not do well in winter b/c of the heaters. Maybe I should try some of these!
Good tips, but my problem is that I have too much humidity in my house because of the wash lines (my 3 kids produce a lot of dirty clothes) and that must be dried inside the house during winter time. I do not have a separate, well ventilated room for my washings unfortunately :(. What do you recommend me to do?
We had the same problem in a previous house. The home was an incredibly insulated house so there was nowhere for the humidity to escape. We lowered the temperature in the house (warmer heat holds more moisture…or something like that; we asked an HVAC expert) and used a dehumidifier. There are heavy duty electric dehumidifiers and even small disposable ones that are used on fishing boats so you could put one of those near the clothes you are line drying.
Good luck!