Aug 6, 2007
CL&P offers tips for dealing with summer's humidity
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High humidity is not only uncomfortable outdoors, it can wreak havoc indoors. Damaged electronics, mold and mildew, and increased dust are all common problems resulting from high humidity.
Humidity can also reduce the efficiency of appliances and increase energy bills. Cooking, bathing and doing laundry all produce water vapor, raising indoor humidity. An air conditioner can use as much as 50% of its energy just taking the moisture out of the air.
The Connecticut Light & Power Company offers the following tips to help protect homes, health and pocketbooks during the “dog days” of summer:
• Ensure adequate ventilation around the stove and clothes dryer so that humidity is released outside the house.
• Install exhaust fans in the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and other areas where water vapor is created, and hang wet towels and bathing suits outside to dry.
• Seal air leaks to help prevent high humidity levels in the house.
• Air conditioners should be sized appropriately for the rooms they are cooling. An oversized air conditioner can “short cycle,” leading to rapid cooling without reducing indoor humidity levels.
• In homes with single pane windows, especially with metal frames, installing storm windows or replacing existing windows with Energy Star-rated windows can reduce the risk of outdoor vapors coming indoors.
• In basements with a dirt floor, cover the floor completely with plastic to slow down water vapor coming through the soil. Slope soil away from the home’s foundation to help decrease humidity in the basement.
• Extend downspouts, and keep them clear and open.
• “Wait ’til 8” — use major appliances such as dishwashers and clothes washers and dryers before noon and after 8 p.m. when it is cooler.
• Cook outdoors or use a microwave for cooking. In addition to reducing humidity output, a microwave uses less than half the power of a conventional oven and cooks the food in about one-quarter of the time.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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