Humidity levels change with the seasons and impact air quality. You can experience extremely higher humidity levels in summer and lower relative humidity levels in winter. These both extremes can significantly impact your overall health by stimulating airborne illnesses and respiratory conditions. 

So, how can you preserve your health with changing seasons and humidity levels? Your optimal solution is to make changes to your routine and achieve the ideal indoor humidity according to seasonal changes to enhance overall comfort and well-being. 

However, changing your home and routine throughout the year to manage extreme humidity can be a quest. In this article, we have covered the impacts of humidity on your health, ideal indoor humidity levels, and tips to adapt your home and routine across seasonal changes.

How Can Humidity Affect the Human Body in Different Seasons?

Extreme levels of humidity are reported to activate seasonal allergies and, thus, stimulate medical conditions in many individuals. Continue reading to learn how humidity can affect your health in the summer and winter seasons:

Effects of High Humidity in Summer

The following discussed are different ways high humidity can affect your body in summer:

• Hamper the body’s cool-down mechanism: The human body tends to sweat a lot in the summer to cool itself down. Higher humidity levels increase moisture in the air, making it harder for it to absorb sweat from your skin. Hence, you continue to sweat rather than cool down and, thus, feel hot, sticky, and uncomfortable. 
• Heat cramps: Working out in hot and humid weather can cause muscle cramps due to imbalanced salt levels in your body.
• Heat exhaustion: Hot and humid days can cause perspiration, causing fluid and salt loss and replacing them in an imbalanced way. It can increase body temperature and lead to dizziness and weakness.
• Triggers asthma attacks: Higher humidity levels in summer can increase pollutants, dust mites, and pollen in the air, stimulating a medical condition- bronchoconstriction. Breathing in humid air can activate sensory nerve fibres in the lungs that constrict and tighten your airways, stimulating coughing and making it harder for you to breathe.

Effects of High Humidity in Winter 

Lower levels of relative humidity in winter can cause the following effects on your body:

• Dry skin: Itching is the most common symptom one can experience during low-humidity days. Moreover, eczema sufferers or those with sensitive skin can have persistently dry skin, leading to tiny cracks and even bleeding. 
• Dry nasal passages: Now that more moisture is drawn from the mucus membrane to moisten dry air, your membranes can dry out quicker than your body replenishes the moisture. It can lead to dry and painfully cracked sinuses. 
• Sore or scratchy throat: Moisture can also be drawn from your nasal passages, leading to dry, sore, and scratchy throat.

What are the Ideal Humidity Levels for Each Season?

Both weather and humidity are intertwined, and thus, change in one causes change in another. This section outlines the ideal humidity levels you should try to maintain indoors to make your home and yourself more comfortable and healthier:

• Winter

On the arrival of the coldest months, you should make efforts to keep the indoor humidity levels between 30% and 50%. Properly humidified indoor air will feel warmer and, thus, help you stay warm during winter.

• Spring and Summer

During the spring and summer, it’s advisable to maintain a 40% to 55% humidity level in your home to reduce dust mites and the growth of mould and mildew and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. Low levels of humidity will lower the indoor temperature, helping you stay cool during scorching hot days. 

• Fall

As the summer season fades and the temperature starts dropping in the fall, you should try to adjust your home humidity levels between 40% and 60%. During this season, the air tends to become drier and can cause dry skin, nosebleeds, dehydration, and headaches. 

Adapting Your Home and Routine for Humidity Throughout the Year

You can prevent the above-discussed health conditions by maintaining appropriate humidity levels in your house during the summer and winter seasons. Just follow below given tips:

Tips to Adapt Your Home and Routine for Humidity in Summer

Here are some key tips to adapt your home and routine for humidity in summer:

• Use a dehumidifier: Using dehumidifiers in your house can help remove excess moisture from the indoor air and prevent the growth of mould and mildew.
• Use smart AC or thermostat controller: Pairing your AC or thermostat with a smart controller features built-in humidity sensors that can help set the desired humidity range automatically.
• Take cold showers: You can reduce your body temperature and bring indoor heat down by taking cold showers. 
• Grow moisture-absorbing plants: Moisture-absorbing houseplants serve as natural dehumidifiers while elevating your house’s aesthetics. 
• Open windows for ventilation: Proper ventilation and air circulation are key to reducing the moist, sticky feeling indoors.

Tips to Adapt Your Home and Routine for Humidity in Winter

Here are some key tips to adapt your home and routine for humidity in winter:

• Boil water and use stovetop: Using the stovetop to cook or boil water can help release steam into the air, improving indoor humidity levels.
• Install a humidifier: Another easiest way to control indoor humidity in winter is to install a portable humidifier.
• Place houseplants: In addition to adding to your house’s décor and ambience, houseplants can help purify the indoor air while boosting the humidity level.
• Upgrade windows, doors, and weatherstripping: During cold months, inefficient windows and doors can leak out moisture and heat. Prevent this heat and humidity loss by upgrading your windows and doors and using weatherstripping.

Final Thoughts

Maintaining the perfect humidity level in your home and adapting your routine according to changing seasons is not only about comfort but also enhancing your well-being. When concerned about your health with seasonal changes, consider consulting Medanta specialists for appropriate precautionary and preventive measures.