TWIN CITIES WEST Blog

How to Maintain Proper Humidity in Your Home During the MN Winter

During the cold Minnesota winters, it’s important to have enough humidity for comfort and relaxation. One of the most common complaints we receive from local homeowners is that their homes feel too dry in the winter when they have their furnace running.

However, too much humidity can lead to structural problems in your home as well as health problems. For this reason, it’s essential to find the optimal humidity levels to maintain your indoor environment. Maintaining the humidity levels in your home is just as important as managing the temperature.

How Does Humidity Impact Your Health?

Although your home’s humidity levels during the cold Minnesota winter are important, it can be difficult to maintain them properly. Humidity levels that are too high or too low can cause a variety of negative health effects for you and your family.

Dry air can cause:

• Nosebleeds
• Sore throat
• Sinus or respiratory issues
• Dry, cracked skin or lips

On the other hand, high humidity levels can cause:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Sleeping problems

As you can see, it’s dangerous for your humidity levels to be pushed too far in either direction. 

How Does Humidity Impact Your Home?  

Along with affecting your physical health and mental well-being, extreme humidity levels can cause negative repercussions for your home. When the humidity levels get too high, it can encourage mold growth throughout your house. Furthermore, mold can quickly spread and cause damage to drywall, wood, upholstery, or other materials.

Excess humidity is something you want to avoid, so let’s discuss the warning signs that indicate when humidity levels are too high.

First, you may notice condensation or ice on the interior of your windows. This moisture means that the relative humidity levels in your home are too high, and the excess wetness is collecting or freezing on the windows.

Severe relative humidity levels can also cause moisture to collect in wall cavities or in your attic. High attic humidity levels will quickly cause mold to grow and spread throughout your home, causing a variety of health and structural problems that you definitely want to avoid. 

What Are the Ideal Humidity Levels?

To monitor your home’s relative humidity levels, you’ll need to use a humidity measuring device known as a hygrometer. This way, you can accurately pinpoint your home’s precise humidity levels.

According to the Minnesota Government’s Home Energy Guide, the ideal relative humidity level is between 30% and 50%. However, this decreases during the winter, with optimal humidity levels hovering between 30% and 40%. Relative humidity levels can potentially drop lower during the freezing Minnesota winters. 

Minnesota Winter Attic Humidity Relief 

Although a simple solution for dry air in the winter can be to run a humidifier, this isn’t the most optimal solution. Too much humidity can lead to problems such as mold, bacteria, and dust mites. 

For this reason, we recommend reinsulating your attic to ensure your home stays comfortable. Properly installed insulation from the experts at Koala Insulation of Twin Cities West does more than just help lower heating costs. 

Humidity control and attic insulation go hand-in-hand. So book a free consultation with one of the experts at Koala Insulation to transform the health of your home today.