Since I grow a few plants inside, including orchids, I try to keep the RH between 40 and 60 per cent. Last week was a struggle with constant below freezing temps and a forced warm air furnace, readings were around 35% for several days and I could feel the difference.

Currently 53%.

Right now we're only at 25%. Winter just does such a number on these old, drafty, historic (ha!) houses. We do add humidity as much as we can (we vent the dryer through a water trap, let the dishwasher fully cycle through so the steam permeates the kitchen, and boil a lot of water). We don't have a humidifier (room OR whole-house), and our house is heated with a gas boiler/hot water radiators.

Terrible, esp because we use our woodstove so much. We need to get a humidifier. It's a long story, but the one hooked up to the heating unit does not work well for us...it's a control issue.

Any recommendations? I don't want a sonic one as we had one in the old house and it gave me a chronic cough. So I'm thinking we need a wicking type.

Depending on the wood stove a large pot of water on top can work. Not likely to happen during the winter but I would caution on having the humidity too high. Can cause air borne mold problems along with making the air feel colder to your body. Those days like today when the humidity is over 50% I feel colder than when it is in the 40% range.

I also have orchids, mine is 57%, but it seems to me that the whole Houston area, even the north area that is away from the Gulf, seems to have 50-60% a lot of the time.

I have to say that I really don't know. This close to the ocean and being a household that leans to open windows (bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen) much of the year I haven't really thought about it. We haven't had a wood stove or wood fireplace in many years - there is a gas fireplace only used occasionally. I think there is a sling psychrometer in the truck, used for measuring timberland safety. I wonder if DH could get an interior measurement with that if I asked him to bring it in.

Low indoor humidity in winter, especially in the colder parts of the country, comes from low outdoor temps. The easiest way to deal with it is with a humidifier, usually installed as part of a forced air system or with a stand alone unit. A drafty old house offers more problems than just low wintertime indoor humidity to deal with. In a heated house, more humidity (in the range Ken mentions) makes the air more comfortable.

For many living east of the Rockies and in the South, the bigger humidity problem is high humidity during the summer. An air conditioner takes care of that problem, removing moisture from the indoor air as it cools it.

morz8, if you live in the coastal Northwest, your indoor humidity is likely at the very high end of the scale, not the low end.

I have a state of the art humidifier but the humidity has bottomed out at about 12%... Why you may ask? I have asked DH (who does HVAC and installed the system) to turn it on three times in the last month and he has not. Open to suggestions that are not nagging... Tempted to do it myself, but don't even know what it looks like and it resides with the furnaces in the crawlspace.

Annie, I don't know what all is out there in the marketplace, but we have a simple, portable evaporative humidifier (with a wick) that I really like. We've had a long run of very cold temperatures when the heat pump had to operate constantly, so this little appliance has had a good trial.

Our downstairs is a bit over 2500 ft.2 and the humidity level has remained at 38-45%. The unit had to work hard the first twenty-four hours but not anymore. The personal comfort level is much improved.....no more chapped skin, electric hair, or sore throat.

I like our flow-through humidifier. It's installed on the forced air furnace ductwork. When the blower goes on, water runs over a metal mesh medium. When the blower shuts off, so does the water, and the medium dries completely -- no home for mold to grow. (You do need a place for water to drain; ours goes into the floor drain in the basement where all our mechanicals 'live'.) We also use a dehumidifier in the basement in summer.

I have not missed the asthmatic troubles I used to have in our previous home that had no basement. A second floor bedroom is best for asthmatics, but I'm OK on the first floor as long as there's a basement under it.

We keep our house at 35% humidity. We had to lower it during our two weeks of below freezing weather to keep frost from melting into puddles on windowsills during the days. We noticed the difference, but as long as we weren't getting 'shocked' at light switches, we were OK.

Humidity on Maui this morning is 65%. It's 74F at 8:45 a.m. We used one light blanket last night. Haven't needed the A/C since arriving Jan. 2. Trades are blowing and all is well. So far, so good, but it is winter here, and there will be 'other' weather.

I had an AprilAir humidifier put on my furnace when we replaced it several years ago. I have lots of antique wood furniture - inlay/veneer - so keeping the humidity level up in the winter is very important. I once had the tortoise veneer on some small antique boxes, peel right off - fortunately, repairable. I keep my humidity at about 55% - good for the wood, good for my skin and hair.

My interior is uncontrolled and I don't know what the RH is. I do know that it was very low last week during our cold snap.

In the house I had before this one, I installed a humidifier in the furnace bonnet and it did work. However, when I tried to maintain a healthy 50% RH during our severe winter days, it caused condensation on picture windows and on cool spots of entryway door frames - one night, I had frost on the inside door knob. I had to reduce the moisture level to keep from ruining the house.

In my present house, I have no moisture control and the skin on the backs or our hands became dry. The wife began itching on the calves of her legs. Today, the temperature has risen to above freezing and there is more moisture in the outside air. The house interior is much more comfortable.

In this area, where it gets quite cold, often around 0 degrees F., -18 degrees C., much of the moisture in the outside air has been frozen out, so when some comes into our houses it gets warmed through many degrees, the relative humidity goes down ... and down more ... and more.

We have often been told that the relative humidity in many our our homes, if we haven't taken action to add more moisture, is often lower than in the desert.

My bathroom, being small, is usually warmer than the other rooms. I put an empty vegetable, juice, etc. can filled with water beside the hot air register and it gets empty within upwards of a week.

ole joyful

no idea what kinda number the humidity is, BUT... i almost electrocute myself every time i take off my jacket... snap! crackle! pop! just recently got to where changing positions while sleeping wasn't extremely painful (recovering from broken arm). when i roll over and/or flip pillows, can actually SEE sparks under the covers.

A humidifier has a dial on it that tells you what setting is ideal for outdoor temperatures. Use it wisely and you'll not have condensation on exterior glass and doors, and still be comfortable.

• Outdoor temperature over 50˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 50%
• Outdoor temperature over 20˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 40%
• Outdoor temperature between 10˚F and 20˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 35%
• Outdoor temperature between 0˚F and 10˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 30%
• Outdoor temperature between -10˚F and 0˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 25%
• Outdoor temperature between -20˚F and -10˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 20%
• Outdoor temperature at -20˚F or lower, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 15%

anoriginal,

Spray a light mist of water over your bed a couple hours before bedtime. That will relieve the arcing/static.

I guess I should set up a dehumidifier then. We get way too much condensation on our windows. I am going to copy your chart Brushworks.

A simple battery operated, digital indoor hygrometer is very inexpensive! You can find them at Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, and online. We bought a couple hygrometer/thermometers, each measuring about 2"x 3".

We have a new heat pump and a new smart thermostat that gives the outdoor and indoor humidity and temperature. I have also been running our humidifier in the bedroom due to a cold and sinus congestion. Our current indoor humidity is running between 46-52%. Very comfortable.

I have 3 different hygrometers and I have readings from 15% to 33%. The one I go by is on the weather station unit and it's currently showing 22%. I've been putting about a gallon of water a day into the air for the past few weeks. By the one I go by it hangs around 21%-22%. I expected it to show higher but it's plenty of humidity in here. I can feel the difference.

Bird/plant room is low 30’s, just from the plants and from being closed off from woodstove (they have radiant heat in their room). I need to start misting the spider plants to get that up a little higher. Rest of house is like 19 or 20% or lower... we ordered a pot to put on top of the woodstove and eagerly await its arrival.

In the summer it gets up to EIGHTY percent humidity in the kitchen area and no we don’t have air conditioning or need it. It would be nice for the dehumidifying but not worth it otherwise. We have a portable dehumidifier in the workshop but will also need one for the kitchen next summer. Crazy!

It's 55 here this morning, with rain, so we have a few windows open to let in the outdoor humidity, raising our indoor to 40%+.

Tomorrow, when temps drop 40 degrees, the built in humidifier will be back in action. It usually takes one furnace cycle to change interior environment from 40% to 15% humidity.

I live in an older mobile home. I have a console humidifier. As soon as I turn the furnace on in the fall, I have to start running it too. If I don't the air is so dry I can hardly breath. If I don't have in running it feels so much colder in here. I can tell if it is out of water, than it feels chilly in here. Usually I can tolerate it 60 degrees. I read some place that if your humidity is too high you will have fog on your windows. I never have fog on my windows. I run it on probably 3/4 comfort zone and on high power all day long and it hardly ever shuts off. It is right by our bedroom door, so I have to turn it on low at night or it is too noisy. I don't have a tester, but I seem to do OK without one. I think the 2 tanks are 3 gallons each and I have to fill them every other day.

This house came with a humidifier attached to the furnace. I watched the man service it a few months ago. It's a foam pad that water sprays onto, after the air has exited the heating part of the furnace. According to the thermostat upstairs, the humidity is around 40% most of the winter. But, during the recent extreme cold snap, the humidity never made it above 25%. I think it makes a big difference to my skin -- not nearly as dry as it always used to be.