Air Quality and Humidity Control in Kamloops

Let’s talk about indoor humidity, why it’s important, and how you can keep it at a healthy and consistent level. There is an ideal range of indoor humidity to maintain, despite the fluctuations that happen outdoors throughout the year. Fortunately, there are whole-house options that can keep your home’s humidity under control all year round. KVA Mechanical is a leading provider of air quality and humidity solutions in Thompson-Nicola. We carry a wide range of solutions for every household and budget. 

Indoor Humidity Control in Kamloops

Humidity is a measurement of the amount of moisture in the air. Low humidity causes uncomfortably dry air, whereas high humidity causes a sticky, steamy, sweaty feeling. Neither is a pleasant feeling, especially when you’re inside! Controlling the indoor humidity level in your home is essential for a comfortable living environment.

Indoor humidity, on the other hand, isn’t merely a matter of comfort. Humidity has a significant impact on the health and well-being of you and your family. While humidity management is a lesser-known indoor air quality solution in Kamloops, and frequently the final option for IAQ solutions for homeowners, it has many long-term benefits. 

Hazards of High and Low Home Humidity Levels

Human health and wellness problems, as well as house quality issues, are two categories of hazards and potential repercussions linked with excessive indoor moisture levels. Let’s compare and contrast!

Low Home Humidity

Low humidity is more commonly known as dry air. Indoors, dry air is a concern because it permits toxins to travel more freely through the air. Because there is no moisture in the air to weigh the particles down and force them to fall, the pollutants are free to circulate throughout the room.

Potential Side Effects:

Low humidity levels produce the following symptoms and health conditions:

• Rashes
• Dry and itchy skin
• Chapped lips
• Dry sinuses
• Irritated eyes
• Nose bleeds

High Home Humidity

In comparison to the dry air of the winter, high humidity is more of a spring and summer issue. High indoor humidity, on the other hand, can be a year-round problem depending on location and temperature. Controlling outdoor humidity levels is impossible, whether it’s due to a mix of rainy weather and warmer temperatures or neighboring coastal–tropical weather conditions. It emphasizes the need of maintaining your house’s indoor humidity levels, as well as the health and home implications that high humidity has.

Potential Side Effects:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Headaches 
• Difficulty breathing
• Mold-related symptoms (coughing, wheezing, trouble sleeping)

How to Maintain the Best Humidity Level in Your House

It may appear impossible to control indoor humidity levels. Especially when the sources of excessive or insufficient indoor moisture are considered. Outdoor conditions, seasonal weather, and your local climate all have a role. Other things to consider are your home’s design and structure, different levels of airtightness and ventilation, and even your everyday activities and habits. All of this adds to the indoor humidity levels!

While your HVAC system contributes to the humidity in your home, it is not designed to humidify or dehumidify it. Only dedicated humidity control technologies, in actuality, can truly target and regulate interior humidity levels.

The good news is that there are a variety of whole-house humidity management options to select from. Whatever your indoor moisture worries or issues are—low humidity, high humidity, or a combination of the two depending on the season—and there’s IAQ solution for you!

Whole-Home Humidity Control

Because whole-home solutions handle the entire space, we prefer them over portable or single-room devices. Single-room humidifiers can only humidify one room at a time. And, more than likely, if your home is experiencing humidity-related air quality problems, you’ll need a comprehensive remedy.

Another significant advantage of whole-home humidity control is that the devices may be integrated into your existing HVAC system. In layman’s terms, the gadget continuously monitors indoor relative humidity levels throughout the house and provides a signal when levels fall outside of the intended range. It then humidifies or dehumidifies your environment on its own.

The device’s size is critical for both humidification and dehumidification methods. The number of pints of water added or removed from your home’s indoor air every day varies dramatically among models. The size of the space or square footage of your property will determine which model is appropriate.

It’s also worth noting that the benefits of going with a whole-house system include fewer upkeep, especially for humidifiers. With an in-duct system, you won’t have to worry about maintaining adequate water levels, changing the water, or cleaning the system on a regular basis, nor will you have to worry about water quality.

Whole-Home Humidifiers

A humidifier for the whole house provides moisture to the air. To increase the amount of moisture in your home, you can use one of two technologies:

Humidifiers with Steam

By releasing steam, a steam humidifier adds moisture to the air. The gadget warms water and transforms it to steam in an internal reservoir. The steam is then pumped throughout your home via the furnace or fan, as well as existing ductwork, thereby raising the humidity level.

Humidifiers that evaporate water

Evaporative humidifiers work by drawing air into the device and passing it through a moistened wick pad. Because the humidifier has an internal reservoir, the pad, or filter, stays wet. After passing through the filter, the air returns to your home, raising the humidity level.

Whole-Home Dehumidifiers

A whole-house dehumidifier draws air into the device and removes moisture using an internal system fan. The water is collected in an internal reservoir by the gadget. This ensures that only the drier air circulates.

Additional IAQ capabilities, such as room-by-room control options and the ability to adjust airflow into specific regions of the home, are available with some dehumidifiers.