Ever noticed yourself paying more attention to the “feels like” category on your weather app than the actual temperature? Perhaps you’ve also noticed how the two can be drastically different numbers. This is comparable to the difference of relative humidity and absolute humidity, where relative humidity is the actual percentage of humidity, while absolute humidity refers to the amount of water contained in the air. These levels are influenced by a number of outside factors.?
Humidity is defined as the amount of fog or vapor that the air holds, which is why we may feel wet on a humid day as our sweat is not able to evaporate.?
Let’s explore further into indoor humidity control and the outside influences.
- Ventilation: Humidity levels are better controlled with proper ventilation that allows for the exchange of indoor & outdoor air. However, too much of this will create a very dry environment with no humidity. Inadequate ventilation will cause excessive humidity as moisture becomes trapped indoors.?
- Temperature: As temperature increases, the air’s capacity to hold moisture increases = lower relative humidity, and vice versa (as temperature decreases, the air’s capacity to hold moisture decreases = higher relative humidity). See below.
- Air Conditioning & Heating Systems: HVAC systems are also a factor that influences indoor humidity levels, not to confuse this with the effects of temperature. In this case, we look at the cooling process of an air conditioner which extracts moisture from the air thus, lowering the humidity. However, air conditioning systems with a humidity control feature are becoming more common. Likewise, heating systems (such as forced-air systems), can dry out the indoor air, leading to lower humidity levels.
- Building Insulation: Similar to ventilation, the level of insulation in a building affects the exchange between indoor & outdoor air. Both well-insulated, and insufficient insulation in buildings can lead to higher humidity levels. The former causes an airtight environment that traps moisture indoors, and the latter is susceptible to outside moisture penetrating the building.??
- Occupancy: You may have experienced being in a crowded space and surrounding glass windows visibly fogging up. In workspaces, the number of employees, and their activities, can impact the humidity. We release moisture into the air through respiration, perspiration, and other daily activities which means humidity levels increase with more people in a confined space.?
- Humidifiers & Dehumidifiers: Finally, to state the obvious, the use of humidifiers & dehumidifiers directly controls indoor humidity levels. Humidifiers add moisture to air while dehumidifiers remove excess moisture.?
- Water humidification system with no threat of wetting materials and equipment
- Prevents static electricity in facilities
- Easy installation: Add to existing HVAC
- Adaptable to any layout
- Humidifies AND cools
- Reduces product loss during production
- Improves product quality
- Low maintenance?
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