How to increase humidity in an air-conditioned room

It’s highly common to have dry air in air-conditioned rooms. Be it in winter or summer—when humidity levels are usually high. It becomes a problem when you don’t do something about it.

However, there are several DIY ways you can increase humidity in air-conditioned rooms. We’ll look at all that in detail, but, first, how do you know you’re running low on humidity?

How to tell if the air in your home is too dry

If you own a hygrometer, you can easily tell if the air in your home is dry. If not, then you’ll have to make do with the following tell-tale signs:

Dry lips and ashy skin: Since your skin contains water, dry air in a home causes the skin to dry out and it might cause a flare-up in pre-existing skin complications like acne and eczema.
Bloody nose and stuffy nose: Dry air in a room will try and leech water from your body. That’s why when you breathe the dry air, your body ends up producing a lot of mucus in an attempt to compensate for the low humidity. In adverse cases, you end up nose bleeding frequently.
Static electricity: When the air is too dry, there’s usually a high build-up of static electricity.

Other things to watch out for include chipping paint and splitting wooden furniture/floorboards in the home.

Why is the air dry?

Usually, dry air results from cold weather. The reduction in temperature causes the outdoor air to lose its ability to hold onto moisture. When this air makes its way indoors because of improper insulation, you end up turning on the heating system which makes the situation worse as it dries out the little moisture available.

AC systems are also responsible for the dry air in air-conditioned rooms. They inadvertently work as dehumidifiers whereby, while cooling the air, they condense the humidity (water vapor) in the room and send it outdoors. Before long, you’re left with nothing but dry air.

Let’s look at some of the ways you can solve this issue without inconveniencing the comfort that the AC brings.

How to prevent dryness in a room with an aircon

The simple answer to dry air in air-conditioned rooms is to add moisture to the air. Here is how you should go about it:

1. Get a humidifier

Using a humidifier in an air-conditioned room would boost the humidity levels significantly. Your only challenge would be to monitor the moisture production so that it doesn’t go overboard. You could buy a hygrometer and install it in the room(s), or better still, buy a humidifier with a built-in hygrometer.

There are different types of humidifiers to pick from depending on your needs and budget. For better performance, be sure to cover all the rooms that have a running AC system. If you could get an evaporative device to attach to the central furnace, the better.

NOTE: Remember to clean the humidifier regularly using hydrogen peroxide, and change the water in the reservoir daily, to enjoy clean moisture.

2. Make use of house plants

This is one of the most natural ways of increasing humidity in an air-conditioned room. You simply need a few potted plants in your home or office, water them regularly, and let nature handle the rest. The plants will absorb the water through the roots and sweat it out through the leaves in a process called transpiration, thus releasing moisture into the dry air.

The soil in the pots also helps in retaining moisture in the room.

3. Hang your wet clothes indoors

When clothes are drying, they release moisture into the air through evaporation. You can take advantage of this by letting the clothes dry up in a room with low humidity. It would work better if you have a smaller room.

Read Also: Top humidifiers for eczema

4. Add a fish tank in the room

Adding a fish tank in a dry air-conditioned room is another creative way of not only eliminating the dryness but also boosting the room’s aesthetics. Find a strategic location for the fish tank in the room and ensure you leave the top open for the water to evaporate and humidify the dry air in the living space.

Be ready to put in the effort to maintain the fish tank. For one, you must change the water regularly for the benefit of the fish and prevent bad odor in the room.

5. Add an indoor water fountain

An indoor water fountain can also help to reduce air dryness in air-conditioned rooms. They’re effective, artistic, and don’t require a lot of maintenance. Your challenge is to find a good installation spot, from where the rising vapor can spread evenly through the room. Also, it’ll help if it’s close to a source of heat like the sun’s rays.

6. Use water containers

Placing a bowl of water in an air-conditioned room is a simple, cost-effective way of dealing with air dryness. You might need more than one bowl if the room is bigger to get better results. Position them strategically around the room so that when the water evaporates it increases the moisture level of the surrounding.

To enjoy a faster evaporation rate, use wide, shallow bowls, and position them in the direct path of sunrays. Preferably near windows. If you want a better appearance, use colored bowls that complement your interior décor, or clear glass but then throw in some colored pebbles. You should keep the bowls far from safety risks like electrical devices and connections. And, if you have pets and kids in the house, ensure the bowls are elevated.

Lastly, change the water often so that it doesn’t turn into a breeding ground for insects.

7. Boil water

If you want to increase the humidity level in an AC room faster, boil water on a stove or heater. This might increase the temperature in the room, but it’ll get the place filled with moisture within a short time. In fact, in the option above of placing water in bowls, you could heat up the water first.

For those in larger rooms, consider setting the aircon on low to help circulate the vapor around. You can throw in citrus peels, vanilla extracts, or any other sweet-smelling herbs if you want the vapor to double up as an air freshener.

8. Leave the bathroom door open

While taking a hot shower, you could leave the bathroom door open so that the released water vapor flows to the adjacent rooms and boosts their humidity level.

From all the solutions on how to increase humidity in an air-conditioned room, pick the one that works for you and get rid of the annoying dry air. But, you must remember to monitor the moisture levels. Make sure the level doesn’t go beyond the air-conditioner humidity setting of between 30 to 50 percent.

Too much humidity could lead to the growth of molds on the walls and ceiling. This, in turn, is a recipe for different health risks to occupants of the place. To be safe, invest in a hygrometer to help you get accurate readings when checking the humidity in an AC room.