09-11-2009, 04:56 PM
I just reread this whole thread because I have been trying to figure out why you are having so much trouble with humidity where you are, because our houses sound sort of similar and we are much higher up in HPP where it rains more and have very little trouble with humidity unless it has been raining for days.
I think the big differences are the salt air and carpets. The salt air affects things from the shore all the way to 7th or so in lower HPP, plus it is warmer down there which makes a difference in how it FEELS. When we lived right on the water in Hilo we noticed that the salt air made everything stickier and once absorbent things (like carpet) soaked up a certain amount of salt from the air they turned into virtual sponges. My theory is if your house has carpet, and it has been soaking up salt residue from the air for years, it is just pulling moisture into your environment. My advice is get rid of the carpets as fast as you can and give the floors or subfloors underneath a chance to dry out before you recover them. I would also really look hard at your landscaping, you need to find a balance between plants that will shade and cool the house and ones that would block your airflow and increase humidity with their respiration.
When we lived on the water we had mostly hard surface furniture, our living room furniture was bamboo with cushions, and we kept a constant airflow through the apartments with a combination of trade wind airflow and Vornado floor fans, and we still had to constantly wipe down tables and other household surfaces. We washed our sheets and mattress cover way more often, when we moved I noticed that the curtains in our bedroom were really sticky. Some of that is just the price we paid to live near the water, but it can be minimized.
Carol
I think the big differences are the salt air and carpets. The salt air affects things from the shore all the way to 7th or so in lower HPP, plus it is warmer down there which makes a difference in how it FEELS. When we lived right on the water in Hilo we noticed that the salt air made everything stickier and once absorbent things (like carpet) soaked up a certain amount of salt from the air they turned into virtual sponges. My theory is if your house has carpet, and it has been soaking up salt residue from the air for years, it is just pulling moisture into your environment. My advice is get rid of the carpets as fast as you can and give the floors or subfloors underneath a chance to dry out before you recover them. I would also really look hard at your landscaping, you need to find a balance between plants that will shade and cool the house and ones that would block your airflow and increase humidity with their respiration.
When we lived on the water we had mostly hard surface furniture, our living room furniture was bamboo with cushions, and we kept a constant airflow through the apartments with a combination of trade wind airflow and Vornado floor fans, and we still had to constantly wipe down tables and other household surfaces. We washed our sheets and mattress cover way more often, when we moved I noticed that the curtains in our bedroom were really sticky. Some of that is just the price we paid to live near the water, but it can be minimized.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb