Fort Myers, Florida is humid year-round and the last thing homeowners want is a home with excess moisture. Home humidity levels can have a huge impact on your indoor air quality and home comfort. A little humidity is good but too much can have serious consequences. Here are three ways to reduce your home’s humidity levels.

Ventilate Your Home

Ventilation is your best friend when trying to get rid of humidity, especially if the source of your humidity ends up being inside. Common interior sources of humidity include showers and indoor laundry rooms. Ventilators can help distribute and remove moist air to reduce humidity levels. Small steps like running your bathroom ventilator for 30 minutes after your shower can make a huge difference in your home’s humidity.

Run Your Air Conditioner

Your air conditioner is excellent at removing humidity from your home when working correctly. Run your air conditioner regularly to benefit from its humidity-removal capabilities. Cool air doesn’t hold onto moisture as well as warm air, which helps reduce home humidity and full-length cycles work to remove extra moisture buildup. Short cycles can lead to reduced humidity removal which is why it’s very important to get your unit sized before installation. Oversized units will have shorter cycles and therefore won’t be as good at removing humidity since it takes time for the water to make its way outside to be drained away.

Take Shorter Showers

Do you find yourself taking a 20-minute hot shower after a long day? The hot water may feel good in the moment, but taking long, hot showers don’t help with the humidity issues in your home. Hot showers trap steam and cause moisture buildup. Take shorter and colder showers or turn off your bathroom exhaust fan on to reduce your home’s humidity.

The relative humidity in your home should be between 40 and 50%. If your humidity level is higher than 50%, then your home will be an uncomfortable environment, resulting in biological growth and bacteria.

Invest in a Dehumidifier

Typically, if your air conditioner is working well and you’re using your ventilators correctly, your home’s humidity levels should be normal. However, sometimes it just isn’t enough. Whether you choose a portable unit or whole-home unit, dehumidifiers can pick up the slack and are remarkably efficient at removing moisture from the air. They’ll leave behind an appropriate amount of moisture to keep your home comfortable.

The experts at Certified Heating and Cooling Inc. can help you with your humidity issues. Give us a call today to learn more about our indoor air quality services.

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Originally published in Aug. 2018, updated in March 2020