This week’s Ask The Craftsman post is actually a user suggestion and not a question from long time reader Mike.
Mike pointed out a post on Old House Journal (you can read the post here) where the author does a little science experiment to keep his bathroom warm and dry in the winter.
Tired of the wintertime cold bathroom?
It may not seem like it sometimes, but in the winter our homes are full of warm, humid air compared to the cold, dry air outside.
Activities like cooking, showering, laundry, and just plain breathing add to the humidity inside.
This humidity causes condensation on windows and also there is a possibility of vapor condensing in our walls and causing rot. So, it’s important to keep the humidity at bay.
Exhaust Fans Bad?
Most of us use exhaust fans in the bathroom to clear out the steam from a shower, but that also sucks all the heated air from the room that you paid good money for and pulls cold air in through cracks in the building. That’s never a good idea.
Maybe try a portable dehumidifier. I haven’t tried this, but the science looks sound. The dehumidifier doesn’t change out the warm air inside and actually generates a little heat itself. An added bonus!
You can get a model with a humidistat which will only run when the humidity is above a certain level, or you can get the less expensive manual models that are simply on/off. Both are relatively affordable.
Just like an exhaust fan, turn it on when you start your shower and turn it off about 20-30 minutes after your shower or when the humidity seems to be at a comfortable level.
I haven’t tried this yet, but it sure seems like a a better way to keep warm and dry this winter. Thanks Mike!
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