An air conditioner is a necessity for surviving the hot days of summer in Singapore. However, this comfortable cooling is sometimes tantamount to uncomfortably dry air inside the room. During summer days, the indoor humidity level must be somewhere from 35 to 65 percent. If it is lower than 35 percent, you will experience dry skin, allergies, and irritated eyes. The following are simple ways on how to make aircon room less dry:
Increase Evaporation
You can easily humidify a room with a bowl of water. Gradually, the water will evaporate into the atmosphere. To make the evaporation faster, put shallow and large bowls in direct sunlight to warm the water instantly. For a more decorative version, fill a tray with water and pebbles. You may also buy a desktop water fountain with a soothing sound of flowing water.
Place Indoor Plants
Unknown to many people, plants give off water vapor through pores into the air, increasing humidity around them. Besides, the soil they are planted in contains water that evaporates gradually. Therefore, you must add plants that have a high transpiration rate. Several humidity-increasing indoor plants do not also tolerate dry conditions. Either regularly mist them or place them in a tray filled with water and pebbles for them to get their needed moisture.
Air-Dry Your Laundry
Instead of using the dryer for your laundry, why not hang them from a drying rack and place in your air-conditioned room? Aside from saving electricity, you will improve your comfort too by making the room less dry. You may also hang a couple of wet towels on the drying rack for added moisture. Allow your dishes to air dry too instead of using the drying cycle of your dishwasher.
Boil Water
Dry air can also be minimized by placing a pan of water on a hotplate or stovetop. Boil the water and lower the heat for the water to simmer. This is among the fastest ways on how to increase humidity in a room. You may add vanilla extract or citrus peels to the boiling water to make it an air freshener.
Emit Some Steam
While taking a shower, you should leave both the bathroom door and the shower curtain open to allow the steam to spread into the other parts of your home. But if that is impossible to do for privacy reasons, simply open the door and curtain after taking the shower. Also, when cooking on your stovetop, make sure that the pots are left open to allow the steam to add moisture to your indoor air.
Place a Fish Tank
Placing a fish tank is another brilliant idea to consider on how to make an aircon room less dry. The tank must have a lid that you can partially open. The water evaporates from the tank and increases the humidity levels in your room. Although the fish tank will add beauty to the room, it can spread bad odor throughout the room if not properly taken care of.
Use Room Humidifiers
Using a humidifier is the simplest way on how to increase humidity in a room. However, apart from costing you more space and money, humidifiers are associated with several health risks. Since a humidifier can increase humidity levels extremely high, it can cause the growth of molds inside an aircon room and eventually lead to some diseases like asthma.
You can prevent your aircon room from becoming very moist with a humidifier by installing a hygrometer that you can adjust to keep the humidity at safe levels. The good news is that some humidifiers on the market come with built-in hygrometers. The humidifier must also be cleaned regularly using hydrogen peroxide to keep minerals from building up around it. You must change the water in its tank daily.
How Do You Know that the Indoor Air is Dry?
First of all, you need to check if you have to humidify your air-conditioned room in the first place. It may be difficult to detect dry air if you are paying attention to it for the first time. However, noticing the symptoms associated with it is easy. If you constantly have a dry throat or a runny nose, itchy and dry skin, and nasal congestions, it may be necessary to check what you can do about how to humidify a room naturally.
How Is Your Aircon Drying the Air?
Generally, air conditioners remove water vapor or humidity from the air. This is a normal occurrence in cooling the air. As the air reaches the cold evaporator coil within the air handling unit, the aircon causes the humidity to condense on the coil then drain it into the pipe that will flow outdoors. You can only prevent this condensation from happening by either raising the temperature or turning off the air conditioner.
Heating your house during winter produces the same effect. The furnace will dry the air by simply heating it. The warmer the air, the greater humidity it holds. The level of humidity will keep on decreasing as long as your air conditioner of furnace operates unless you add humidity to your house using a humidifier or by cooking and bathing.
Why Seek Professional Help?
The climate in a tropical country like Singapore requires air conditioning in homes or offices. But as mentioned above, air conditioners can bring humidity levels down and expose occupants to various health problems. You must therefore consider following the above tips on how to humidify a room naturally to ensure you and your loved ones’ safety and comfort.
As you can see, a high level of humidity in a home is a multi-faceted issue. But knowledge is power and our knowledgeable aircon servicing experts, armed with the right tools, can solve all air conditioner humidity problems. Our email address and contact number are available on this website. SOServices is here to help you achieve the best level of humidity for optimal comfort at home or in the office, wherever in Singapore you are located.
