Average room humidity? Hygrometer q.

aliasojo

Just bought a hygrometer as this place constantly feels damp to me and I wanted to monitor/judge just how damp it is.

I'm not sure what is an accepted % level though so I don't have anything to judge my levels against.

What's classed as normal or average?

retepetsir

It depends what you're doing in the place....but ours fluctuates between 40 and 70% (70% when drying washing, use a dehumidifier to bring it back down to 50% or so).

aliasojo

It's in a bedroom, nothing but usual bedroom things going on in there, lol. No washing or drying. It's at 60% just now and there's no-one in there, the room was aired this morning and the window has been closed since around 11am.

Yolina

If I remember correctly, anything between 40% to 60% is in the "ideal" range.

aliasojo

I just found this....

The recommended average relative humidity level is between 35% and 45%. This range will provide the best comfort for your family, while helping to protect your musical instruments, drywall, wooden furniture and other belongings or materials from the damaging effects of dryness or excessive moisture.

iamcornholio

Between 50 and 70% could be normal, but this (humidity) reading is meaningless on its own as the feeling of 'dampness' will depend on the temperature too and will fluctuate

The comfort level for humidity in a typical house is also very different to the level at which condensation becomes an issue, and the two are not related

aliasojo

iamcornholio wrote: »

The comfort level for humidity in a typical house is also very different to the level at which condensation becomes an issue, and the two are not related

We do have a little condensation on the windows but not that much.

My main concern is that our clothes always feel damp and I usually wake up with a slight sore throat/blocked up feeling which lessens over the course of the day.

We do have a dehumidifier which sucks a fair bit out each day but I wanted to try to gauge how much moisture was in the air compared to an average reading.

maninthestreet

Temperature in my lounge now is 18C, with 50% humidity.

olly300

aliasojo wrote: »

We do have a little condensation on the windows but not that much.

Stop breathing then and you won't have any.

aliasojo wrote: »

My main concern is that our clothes always feel damp

The place could be too cold.

aliasojo wrote: »

and I usually wake up with a slight sore throat/blocked up feeling which lessens over the course of the day.

So do I but mine is a medical condition and it doesn't matter whose house I'm sleeping in.

aliasojo wrote: »

We do have a dehumidifier which sucks a fair bit out each day but I wanted to try to gauge how much moisture was in the air compared to an average reading.

Do you have a condensation problem i.e. condensation running down the walls?

aliasojo

olly300 wrote: »

Do you have a condensation problem i.e. condensation running down the walls?

No, only a little on the windows in the morning.

iamcornholio

aliasojo wrote: »

My main concern is that our clothes always feel damp and I usually wake up with a slight sore throat/blocked up feeling which lessens over the course of the day.

Clothes should not feel damp unless they are damp to start with, and normal household humidity at normal household temperatures would not cause them to be damp - moisture would not be absorbed into the fabric

Also, sore throats/blocked up is not normally a symptom of high humidity, but rather the contrary - too dry and low humidity. But could also be a lack of ventilation