No, it wasn't him, but we did talk to another energy auditor and certified building inspector for over 30 years who pretty much told us the same thing. It's not good to have 50% RH in the house when it's 0° outside. Now, this may be coming from the POV of not having a super sealed house where you ARE getting some humid air leaving the heating envelope and condensing as soon as it gets to unheated space. It happened to us simply trying to keep the house at 30-35% RH when the temps outside were 0-20°. We were adding 15-18 GALLONS of water a day in the house just to maintain that 30-35% RH. As soon as it warmed up some, the once frozen vapor from just outside the heating envelope started melting and it started to rain in the house. There is a reason why the humidistat for all the major whole home humidfiers (April Aire, etc) have an outside temp sensor to regulate indoor humidity based on outdoor temp. Take your pick from any of -THESE-. I'm not arguing about what the optimum humidity level should be from the person's POV, I'm stating what it should be from the houses POV. Just because it's the most comfortable for US at 40-50% doesn't mean it's the best for the house when the temps outside drop. Some houses may tolerate higher humidity in colder weather better than others. I suspect houses like yours to be one of them, seeing it's nice and tight and you don't have to worry about an abundance of excess heated/humid air escaping and having the water vapor condense or having it condense on your windows as you probably have very efficient windows. For the general populace though, there is such a thing as having it too humid inside the house when the temps outside drop. Everywhere you look HVAC professionals recommend different RH in colder weather than in summer. What's the Proper Humidity Level for Your Home in Winter? What is the Recommended Humidity Level for my Home? - HVAC.com
yes, "certified Building Inspectors and Energy Auditors". Madison Home Insulation and Energy Audits | American Home Consultants How to Become a Certified Home Inspector in Wisconsin - InterNACHI BTW, if you want to start criticizing; it's you're, not your.......as in, I see you're in the construction field. Listen, that's great you have a house where you can maintain 50% RH when it drops to below zero outside and not have any issues. I wish our house was as tight and efficient. You're ( <---- not your) in the minority though.
FYI - Real Estate Home Inspectors... They arent considered to be the sharpest in the "construction field".. Think about it, they don't actually install anything.. They don't actually have a formal education in a trade. Infact about the only thing they do is take a pretty simplistic exam to get a license. As well, a "Home Inspector" isnt a "Building Inspector"... Thats like calling an Electrician a Welder.. Case in point however, neither a Building Inspector nor a Home Inspector would have any formal education associated with their profession in the very least when it comes to HS&E nor Thermodynamics & Humidity in a home... I might make simple typos on my iPhone to which you can make yourself feel bright... However I assure you as someone who has 10yrs now managing construction projects and companies on a very large scale (hospitals, industrial)... You dont have a clue what your talking about... Their u half it folcs
