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Damprid is a commercial dissicant (sp), like those little packets you get in a box with a new camera or new shoes. I use them in closets and have one heat pole in my portable clothes closet. Manageable means of keeping mold at bay.
As for the wood stove, the longer you live here, the cooler the winters will feel to you. Mine is not as much for heat as for its dehumidifying effects (as well as no longer needing a paper shredder!) Saves big time on elec. bill. And it's so pleasant...there's a reason TV screens are designed in a 4X3 ratio...who was it who labeled TV "the cool fire" in that, before TV and radio, people were so used to gathering around the fireplace in the evening to talk, sew, communicate.
You should also learn not to keep electronic equipment, including cameras, binoculars, microscopes, anything with lenses, even slides, film, videos, etc. closed up and stored in dark places. No matter how airtight you think you have them, you don't. And the dark just allows the molds to grow vociferously. You will end up with limu (seaweed, molds) growing on each surface. (You can see it on your camera lenses if you peer into them from the front of the camera). Just FYI. fs
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Wood stoves are polluting... think about that before you buy one. It really does not get that chilly here unless you live at a high elevation. Many homes on our street have fireplaces that have never been used ONCE.
We live on the water, so it is not just humidity but also salt spray that we battle.We do have an almost constant breeze thanks to the ocean and at night cool air comes down the mountain. We have an AC system that also has a dehumidifying setting and we close up the house and turn that on about once or twice a month when the humidity gets above 65%. BTW, if you think it is bad now, wait till the rainy season in the winter. If your sheets feel damp that is an indicator that you do not have good circulation.
I make little desiccant packets using kitty litter and those little "make your own teabag" things. For smaller sizes like spices you can buy dri-spice packets. Using the ones in pill bottles etc. is fine, but they do not last forever.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
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Do you have any ventilation (opening windows or some such) near the peak of your high ceiling rooms? if not, it is a real benefit for the total room ventilation to add them.
Even with high ceilings, you have some 'attic' space. If it is not properly vented it can cause heat & humidity retention problems in the house. We also added radiant heat barriers (harder to do with low attic space) but you can look to making sure that your future roofing purchase includes radiant barrier.
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Definitely no windows near the peak of the high ceilings. In fact, the main peaks are windows. Non-opening windows - definitely seems stupid to me. I thought we had good ventilation, bc each wall has windows, but obviously if the sheets feel damp it might not be enough. In fact, the back of the house is all louvred - I don't think I an ever air tight the place for AC or dehumidifier - except in one out-building, which I use daily. Sigh. It's driving me nuts - sticky floors, sticky table surfaces, sticky legs & arms. Thanks again everyone for all your help. Anyone try to fill vases, etc. (whatever you have for decor) with kitty litter? Would that help anything? Just a thought.
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set out a couple oscillating fans keep air moving at all times for a few days see if it helps. Slow speed settings works for me .... but the air needs to be kept moving
"We bought a fixer-upper"
have the carpets been "cleaned" recently?
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We are having several of these installed to flood light into areas which might otherwise invite mildew by being shadowy.
Solatube
http://www.solatube.com/residential/
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It is not our part to master all the tides of the world but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
J.R.R. Tolkien
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Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
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I don't think the carpets have been cleaned. If they were, someone did a crappy job of it. They definitely are cruddy and feel cruddy to bare feet. Yuk. I do have one wonderful oscillating fan on (Honeywell - totally recommend it) but tend to turn it off if I leave the room. I think I'll keep it on for a few days and see what happens. We should be taking the carpet out in the next few days as soon as we make up our minds about flooring. Hopefully all these things will help! I gotta get me one of them hydrometers (or whatever they're called) to take humidity readings and see if doing all this stuff helps. Mahalo everyone for all your good advice.
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Bought a used dehumidifer the other day and put it in one of the rooms w/the doors closed overnight. It filled up like 4" deep. Next 2 nights, same thing. Absolutely amazing how much moisture is in the air. Then I open the windows and put on an oscillating fan, and I'm comfortable in front of it, but as soon as I move, I'm clammy and see the room is way humid again. Still, definitely worth the dehumidifier. We're going to get another. I like the closet bar thingies. They seem smart - but do they make the closet HOT?
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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
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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I suspected the carpet also. Salt will absorb the water retaining the atmospheric moisture in the carpet. If the carpet was cleaned it could still be damp adding to your woe. Carpet in very high humidity a loosing battle in my experience.
Id pull the carpet, run fans in every room till dry and if that doesnt work add ventilation or an airco (heat pump - low energy version of same)
good luck
edit - extra good lucks
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