Humidity & Dew Point Control in Low Humidity Climates

Humidity and dewpoint are both important factors to look at in regards to wood flooring. Keeping your home temperature controlled can affect the dewpoint, humidity and your relative humidity.

There are great calculators out there to help you find the dewpoint based on the temperature and humidity level where you are located. Here is a great one that we use: http://www.dpcalc.org/

Keeping the indoor humidity as consistent is advised for hardwood flooring. Humidity inside should be between 30 and 50 percent to ensure the integrity of the flooring. A humidity meter is the best way to test the relative humidity and can be picked up on amazon or from a hardware store.  

Adding moisture to a house can be hard because cold windows can start to pull the moisture out of the air and create fog on the glass. This isn’t an ideal scenario and can affect the  windows, molding and even the insulation.  

Humidity relative to air temperature makes a difference for your hardwood. Generally speaking if you stay at around 35% humidity in your home year round your hardwood should stay happy. Consistency in your homes realtive humidity throughout the seasons will ensure your wood stays happy. 35% humidity in dry climates is achievable year round.