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Dampness In Summer Or Winter, When Are They Most Dangerous
The Health Effects Of Low Humidity
Autumn has brought the first rains that could aggravate the humidity problems in our home. Or is it just a feeling? The truth is that, although the manifestation of humidity is more evident in winter, in summer they do not disappear. Today we ask ourselves in what season are the most dangerous humidities.
Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air or, in other words, the total amount of water that a body is impregnated with or that, when vapourized, mixes with the air. And although it is often overlooked, it has a direct impact on human health. Furthermore, maintaining an adequate range of indoor humidity, a range of around 40% to 60%, is considered to be key to keeping health at bay.
What many people do not know is how serious it is to have too much humidity in the home as too little, so although in winter the manifestations of water vapor become more evident, in summer, when homes are constantly ventilated, we should not neglect them.
As a general rule, humidity levels tend to be low during the winter and high during the summer, and hot air contains more humidity than cold air. Summer air is described as sticky or damp, while dry air is considered static. It is difficult to compare summer humidity with winter humidity since, as we said, it occurs in both seasons and varies depending on the climate around the home at a particular time. Not only that, but humidity levels can fluctuate daily.
How Humidity Is Produced In Summer And Winter
In summer, windows and balconies remain open almost all day long to enjoy the luminosity of this season and its good temperature. It might seem that this picture does not allow for humidity in homes. Nothing further.
The warm air inside the houses in summer is capable of absorbing a greater amount of humidity. Moreover, when this warm air is mixed with the cold air that may be present in rooms with higher humidity (garages or basements, for example) and is cooled, an ideal breeding ground is created for the production of fungi, moulds and mites, which can be so dangerous to our health.
What happens in winter? Indoor air tends to dry out because cold air, which carries less moisture than warm air, enters the house and gets hotter, which lowers its relative humidity. This low humidity also occurs during the summer, as a result of air conditioners, which can remove moisture from the air while they are running.
However, high humidity levels inside a house during the winter are unusual, therefore, and are usually a sign of major problems such as water leaks, condensation problems and lack of ventilation.
The Health Effects Of Low Humidity. Dry eyes, scaly skin, inflammation of the respiratory tract… The impact of humidity on health is evident in many areas of health. However, one could say that it affects mainly three:
- Nasal congestion is related to moisture. In addition, on the one hand, it is known that there are viruses that find the perfect habitat in humidity, which multiplies the risk of respiratory infections. On the other hand, in low humidity conditions it can happen that the viruses that come off the sneeze can float indefinitely in a room.
- Low humidity not only causes dry eyes, but also forces the person to blink more frequently to try and moisturize them, leading to a deterioration in visual function.
- People with sensitive skin can suffer the consequences of moisture. From dry or scaly skin to eczema or cracks
Fortunately, homes have several options for improving indoor air quality and trying to minimize the impact of humidity on health. These include the use of a humidifier or vaporizer or remedies such as placing water cups in different rooms of the home. However, the best solution to really eliminate humidity in the home is controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV) with double flow, which also facilitates efficient management of energy consumption when renewing the indoor air in a space.
Mechanical ventilation systems extract stale air from rooms and renew it with previously filtered outside air. In this way, new air is supplied at a temperature similar to that of the interior of the home, which, as we said, allows energy savings in both summer and winter and improves the general comfort of the home. And that also helps to improve the humidity in summer and winter.
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