Humidity and house solutions
 

Hi

Well, I havent quite experienced humidity like it before today:eek:, our entire house feels really damp and the air is thick:blink:

Can this be a common occurance? If so any tips for dealing with it, are dehumidifiers any good? Can anyone recommend a particular make or is there a cheaper alternative?

Thanks in advance and apologies if its a dumb question:o

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

The humidity is going to get a lot worse over the next couple of months, it should start to drop off near the end of August.

The cheap alternative is Wal*mart. I don't mean buy a cheap dehumidifier there; I mean go there and hang out under their air conditioning like everyone else :)

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Welcome back to Canada Nikki, hope you are settling in well :thumbup:

The joys of the summer months eh!!!

For the question you asked, well we just roasted all summer :D

Good luck for the future

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Thanks Dean, everything great so far, start work in 3 weeks , guess will just need to get used to the climate:D

If anyone does use anything to try and combat this, please pass on your thoughts:thumbsup:

Hope you are well Dean, hope to catch you soon:thumbup:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

We've been watching the weather over there, just out of interest. Hasnt it been raining for ages?

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

YES and it's getting annoying now...lol

Started on Saturday and hasn't really let up since...they did promise sunshine on Thursday but I think that was just to make us feel better as it is now showing R A I N again...:blink:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

ha ha I just told Nikki via Facebook that I had to go to the Mall last year to cool off a few times. I am glad I am not the only one :rofl:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

There were flash floods in Truro tonight:eek:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

There are flood plains in Truro - it's soooo flat!

I woke up to lightening during the night but it was far away thankfully so I could only hear a wee rumble of thunder. The rain was bouncing though!

I think NB got a lot of rain according to the recent weather forecast.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I'dve though a dehumidifer was a bit of a waste of time. Airconditioning is the thing you need. Perhaps a cheapish plug in unit? Failing that, ceiling fans are good for keeping cool.

Alternatively you could live somewhere where Humidex is not a word that you hear often!;) (Although today it was 21C and raining but supposedly felt like 30C. Not in my airconditioned office it didn't)

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Our house has a dehumidifier built into the heating / AC system. It's part of a heat exchanger or something.

I finally read the instructions today and it says.... only use the dehumidifier when heating, don't use in the summer!!:huh:

Is there a climate control engineer in the house??

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Air exchangers are generally switched off in the summer as you are just swapping moist air with moist air. AC obviously is nice, we have it, but use it sparingly, if at all, due to potential costs. Maybe use it for a bad week in the summer.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

We also have an air exchanger and I found out on BE last year that I should switch it off in the hot months because it does not cool the incoming air, it just pumps the humid warm air into the house (ours is not an aircon too) :eek:

We have a dehumidier downstairs (50-pint and needs emptied at least 3 times a day in high summer - use it for watering the plants and also in my steam iron). It cools the air a few degrees (but it's cooler in the basement anyway). Doesn't have to be vented.

Upstairs, we bought a portable air conditioner a few weeks ago because I felt so puggled on my main level especially in the late afternoon/evening. We had to buy a portable version (more expensive) because our windows all crank out the way and don't slide up/down. The portable version (12,000 btu @ $600 plus tax Costco) is vented out through the patio door using a vertical hose fitting/panel. We also had to purchase a patio door locking bar ($16) because that door can no longer be locked whilst the aircon hoses are in place. We also lose the use of that door too but we had 2 side by side.

Curly hair free for everyone all summer ;)

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Ohhhhh... thanks! But in winter the air isn't moist.... it's dry (which is why there is also, wait for it..... a Humidifier in the system!!:blink: )

This is why we've given up on trying to understand the weirdo system!

I think we'll just save the leccy bills and all sleep in the basement!

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Thanks for the info everyone:thumbsup:

Last week when it was quite hot here in NS the house was lively and cool, no problems, its just been today when it has been really stormy in Halifax area and although we didnt get it here, 40 mins away, we seemed to have the storm in the air feeling all day and we have been left with condensation all round the house.

I will keep researching options:thumbup:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I think you should buy at least one good quality dehumidifier before condensation starts damaging your home.....

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I am off to the shop tomorrow:thumbup: thanks

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Hi Nikki welcome to NS glad to see you are settling in.

A Dehumidifier works, we dont have one yet but we are considering it, someone mentioned ceiling fans these are fairly cheep ive seen them as low as $50, and they do cool you down, we have one in the bedroom and its a godsend in the hight of summer, if you have a split entry open plan consider putting one in an area where it pushes hot air high on the ceiling down into the lower level, this is good in the winter when its generally cool in the lower level. Other methods involve a pool in the back garden when it all becomes too much and you need to cool off fast.

Air conditioning is good, I hear a heat pump can be used for air conditioning, and they are supposed to be the most energy efficient heating/cooling system going.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

If you're talking about geothermal there, this is true, plus the government will give you a few thousand dollars for installing one. Still will probably set you back at least $15k though and they might do a lot of digging or drilling in your land.

Definitely worth looking at if you have heating ducts already installed and have high oil/air con related costs.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Is air-con in homes less popular in Atlantic Canada? It seems most houses have it in Ontario...

Seems to me like you need Air-con. Of all the people I know in North America, they all have air-con in their homes. Not good for the environment, obviously, but there you go...

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

We don't get as hot as eg Ontario which can reach into the 40Cs during the summer. We hit into the 30Cs though. We also get a bit of a breeze where we are but still, it's the humidity that needs to be controlled in the home - your clothes can feel damp in the closet and even your bedding feels damp when you go to bed.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Very rare in Newfoundland with the exception being those people who have a heat pump system. But not needed. One of the joys of living here is it never really gets that hot, nor that cold. On those days it is sticky we use the ceiling fan in the bedroom to keep cool at night and hang in the basement during the day when needed. I look forward to summer and lower energy costs unlike you mainlanders.;)

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Not all mainlanders. We don't have airconditioning and we didn't in the previous house, it's not common in older urban houses.

One neighbour on that street had a machine installed. I absolutely hated it, it ran 23 hours a day, rattling and clanking and generally being a bother to everyone. If I'd wanted to hear droning machinery all day and night I'd have moved to a suburb or into a factory. Bloody unhyphenated people, doncha hate them?

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I suppose the newer, well serviced, units are a lot less intrusive. A friend in central Toronto has a window installed unit in the living room of the apartment. It is old, and a little clunky, but I took the extra noise over the heat for the few days I slept on the sofa there a couple of years back...

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

The people two houses away from us set their AC at 22 c and leave all windows closed.....I'm sure they have huge bills and little fresh air in the house. They are, predictably unhyphenated.

AC is better at taking the humidity out of the air which is quite important in some parts of Canada.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

There is little point in having A/C if you don't have the windows closed. What does "predicably unhyphenated" mean ? When I lived in Ontario we kept the temp at 25 C. It was a central unit, mounted in the plenum. No bother. There is air circulation, through the ductwork, Life would be a little uncomfortable in most parts of Ontario without A/C I can tell you. it is not so common in the Maritimes because, believe it or not, the humidity is much less as is the temperature. It's to do with the continental land mass.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

One of the problems of life in Ontario is that, without effort, one cannot completely avoid the unhyphenated. They have some curious ethnic behaviours, among them an obsession with things related to coldness. This fixation includes the unnecessary chilling of their abodes from which spins the need to keep windows and curtains closed. You will note that whenever one of those people involved in ice hockey appears on the television he or she has the pasty complexion one otherwise associates with rent boys and members of the Libertines. Thus, when one encounters frigidity one may reasonable expect that the unhyphenated are somehow involved.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Having AC and keeping the windows closed do go hand in hand....what I meant is that their windows are never open and they just go from heating season to AC season w/o getting fresh air in the house.

Unhyphenated is a term used on this board by some posters to refer to those people in Canada whose ancestors have been here for generations upon generations and have no ties to other places or cultures. Some posters look down on them.....think Bob and Doug in the worst case example.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Would that include that Don Cherry character ? LOL

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I think he's more "chicken hawk" than "rent boy". His outfits wouldn't have looked out of place on Danny LaRue.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I see. The Canadian equivalent of the quintessential Brit Andy Capp ?

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Bob and Doug were the Disney version of McLean and McLean.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Danny LaRue had more class I think.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

We don't have aircon, nor do the houses in either side of us. We had a through the wall unit in one room in our previous house but only really needed it a couple of times. This house has is usually colder inside than outside until the evening. I don't open the windows until the temp inside is higher than outside. We have ceiling fans which work very well especially for sleeping. We have a dehumidifier whiich in the other house was in the basement, in this one we will probably use it in the bedroom in the evening. We haven't yet.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Not a climate engineer, but are you quite sure thats not a humidifier, rather than de-humidifier...that would be far more normal to counter the drying effect of heating already bone dry winter air. If there is a feed from the cold water system, then its a humidifier.


Forget dehumidifiers, A/C is the way to go for whole house comfort. Lots of fans will help make it feel more comfortable too, and is the cheaper option, but its not the same as A/C. We caved in and turned ours on yesterday, it was pretty stinky in Ontario and is only going to get worse in the next few days.

We have a lot of south facing windows, so have blinds on the outside to minimise the cooling load that results from that, and have it set at 25°C when its on. We try to not just run it for a few hours or a day at a time as it works hardest getting the humidity in the whole house down. Once its down its a lot more efficient to just keep it there, so running one day, then not the next, then runing it again actually uses more energy then cooling the house once and maintaining that level. Its a newer unit with a relatively good SEER 14 efficiency rating, and to be honest unless you are outside next to it, its quiet enough that you wouldnt know its on. Certainly not a problem noisewise, and not a major burden on the hydro bill. Couldnt say that about the old one. Its clear to me that not all A/C is created equal.

In a typical year in ontario we probably only run it for a total of about 6 weeks, if that. I would think out East there is even less demand.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

I agree with that if you live in Ontario. However, in the Maritimes A/C is not necessary except for a very few days. When I built this house I made it central A/C ready. I've been here nearly eight years and still don't have it installed because I don't need it. A dehumidifier works just fine.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

You missed one of my posts.... I have controls for both a humidifier and a dehumidifier!:confused:

I'm supposed to put the dehumidifier on in the winter... when the air is dry (really!!)

I haven't found instructions for the humidifier yet.... and I don't even know where it is in the basement!! But there must be something there because I light comes on when you turn the switch!:lol:

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

from living in a tiny flat in london (the UK one) and having no garden / balconoy on which to hang laundry etc.... we had to get a dehumidifier.

best gadget out there! not only is it amazing the amount of water it collects during the course of day (even when there isn't laundry hanging off everything), but also the room is so much warmer during the winter and cooler in the summer.

air con etc are nice, but the need for such is deminished if a dehumidy is used
(but perhaps vice versa is equally as true?)

defo get a dehumidy tho... especially if the black death mould is creeping up your walls!

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

Yup, thats bizarre to say the least...


Just cos the light comes on when you turn on the humidifier doesnt necessarily mean its doing anything any more...the plates could be all furred up or something else could be on the fritz...out humidifier gives us more reliability headaches than anything else in the HVAC system.

Re: Humidity and house solutions
 

That's because it's too complicated; our kettle boiling on the woodstove gives us no trouble at all.