DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:
Joseph Meehan wrote:

Your furnace heats air and that decreases the humidity.

Then again, an average family of 4 evaporate about 2 gallons of water
per day. In an airtight house, the relative humidity would quickly
rise to 100% in wintertime, limited by condensation on windows.

An interesting thought, but I have never heard of a house coming
anywhere close to 100%. It would be a very unusual home, even a very tight
home to get up to a good 40-60% humidity level during winter in a cold
climate without additional humidification. Homes are not even close to
airtight and I sure would not want to live in one. The space station is
not a very comfortable place to live.

A 2400 ft^2 1-story house contains 2400x8x0.075 = 1440 pounds of air.
At 70 F and 100% RH, it would contain about 0.015832x1440 = 22.8
pounds of water vapor. A family of 4 could increase the RH from 50
to 100% in
0.5x22.8/(2x8.33) = 0.68 days, ie 16.4 hours, or less, given a few
more green plants and indoor window surfaces cooler than 70 F.

Forget the furnace. Caulk the house.

Caulk is not going to do it for most homes. I fear the realities of
home construction get in the way of your theory, even though the theory is
correct.

Nick

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math