It is home owner's responsibility to keep the relative humidity between 30 - 50%, or 35 - 55% depending on manufacturers before, during and after installation.
Wood floors and furnishings add beauty and uniqueness to your home that you should enjoy for a lifetime. But did you know that uncontrolled Relative Humidity (RH) in your home can cause unsightly and expensive damage? In order to properly protect wood furnishings, relative humidity levels must be controlled within a consistent range all year round.
Do you know your home relative umidity (RH) level?
Chances are, you have too little or too much humidity in your home, or both, throughout the year. Each situation has its own dilemmas.
Too Little Humidity
The main causes of low humidity are an overly arid climate or simply the process of heating your home. When you turn up the heat, dry air absorbs moisture from everything inside your home, including you! This can cause your beautiful wood floors to shrink, crack and creak.
Too Much Humidity
Humid weather as well as day-to-day activities, such as breathing, cooking, and doing laundry, can add nearly 25 pounds of moisture to a home every day. This increased humidity can cause wood warp and rot.
It's chemistry.
Your woodwork, wood floors and wood furniture are hygroscopic capable of absorbing and releasing moisture. Uncontrolled humidity can wreak havoc on these furnishings. It's important to maintain proper humidity levels. If RH is too low, your indoor air will absorb water from the wood, causing it to shrink. If RH is too high, the wood will take on moisture, causing it to swell.Gradual humidity changes are equally as important. When indoor RH changes quickly, the dimensions of woodwork, floorboards and furniture change rapidly and warping and cracking can occur.Industry experts recommend keeping your home's relative humidity levels between 30-60% continually, year round to help protect wood floors, trim, cabinetry, furniture and other furnishings.
If you neglect relative humidity in your home, you'll pay for it later.
The warranty from your floor manufacturer does not typically cover damage resulting from excessive humidity.* Extra care must be given to the humidity level at the time of installation and beyond.**
Neglect permanently damages your wood floorboards.
- Swollen wood framing around doors and windows
- Warping or rotting wood floors, trim and wood furniture
- Mold and mildew on wood and elsewhere
- Shrinking of wood floors and woodwork
- Creaking and splitting wood
Things to Consider:
Humidity control: every climate, every season, every day.Aprilaire whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers automatically control just the right amount of moisture in the air to continually maintain optimal indoor relative humidity. Once installed and properly maintained, you never have to worry about the problems that result from unrelated humidity again.Performance and peace of mind.Aprilaire humidifiers and dehumidifiers are professionally installed and maintained by your local heating and cooling contractor. Aprilaire products are manufactured in the USA and comes with a five-year warranty. No matter what the weather brings, you can count on Aprilaire.
