So I have taken some measurements:
Basement @ 65 degF, 65% Humidity
Living Space @ 80 degF, 67% Humidity
I did some calculations:
Basement is approximately 6400 ft^3
Living Space is approximately 19200 ft^3
So I estimate less-than 30 pints (3.75 gallons) of water in the air throughout the whole house.
Some more facts:
The living space is two stories (slightly hotter on the second floor, but no more than 1 degree). I have sealed the living space fairly well. Sealed the outlets, light fixtures, attic hatch. The windows and doors have good seals. There is ~18 inch insulation (R-54) in the attic. The exterior walls are 2x4s with batts of R-13. I have not been running the A/C. Also, the A/C is way oversized so it does little good in controlling the humidity levels. I have also not had the windows open (much) because of unseasonably hot temperatures (>95 degF during the day, >70 degF at night). With the hot weather I am really happy the temperatures inside have stayed around 80 degrees, but I cannot control the humidity.
The basement is completely unfinished. There is a sump pit, but no sump pump. The pit always contains about 4-8 inches of water. I pump it out occassionally, but it fills back up to this 4-8 inches within an hour. Even during heavy rainstorms it just sits happily at this 4-8 inches. Nothing else exciting down there.
The house was built in fall 2007, so it is fairly new.
My problem is I have been running two dehumidifiers (one in the basement and one in the living space) constantly (24/7 minus time to empty the water bucket)for the past 2 weeks and the humidity sits around 65% in both areas. I know the dehumidifiers are working because I am emptying the water buckets once a day in the basement and nearly twice a day in the living space.
Any thoughts/clues/questions/experiments to try and control the humidity level? I would really like to get it down to the 50% range.
Since the house is not even three years old could it still be the house drying out? That is the only thing I can come up with, unless I have a major leak somewhere that I missed.
One more thing.
Outside during the day (right now) is ~90-95 degF with 60% humidity. Outside during the night is ~72-75 degF with 99% humidity. I could run the A/C, but like I said it is over sized so it will get the house back to 74-78 degF before it affects the humidity levels.
Thank you.
Basement @ 65 degF, 65% Humidity
Living Space @ 80 degF, 67% Humidity
I did some calculations:
Basement is approximately 6400 ft^3
Living Space is approximately 19200 ft^3
So I estimate less-than 30 pints (3.75 gallons) of water in the air throughout the whole house.
Some more facts:
The living space is two stories (slightly hotter on the second floor, but no more than 1 degree). I have sealed the living space fairly well. Sealed the outlets, light fixtures, attic hatch. The windows and doors have good seals. There is ~18 inch insulation (R-54) in the attic. The exterior walls are 2x4s with batts of R-13. I have not been running the A/C. Also, the A/C is way oversized so it does little good in controlling the humidity levels. I have also not had the windows open (much) because of unseasonably hot temperatures (>95 degF during the day, >70 degF at night). With the hot weather I am really happy the temperatures inside have stayed around 80 degrees, but I cannot control the humidity.
The basement is completely unfinished. There is a sump pit, but no sump pump. The pit always contains about 4-8 inches of water. I pump it out occassionally, but it fills back up to this 4-8 inches within an hour. Even during heavy rainstorms it just sits happily at this 4-8 inches. Nothing else exciting down there.
The house was built in fall 2007, so it is fairly new.
My problem is I have been running two dehumidifiers (one in the basement and one in the living space) constantly (24/7 minus time to empty the water bucket)for the past 2 weeks and the humidity sits around 65% in both areas. I know the dehumidifiers are working because I am emptying the water buckets once a day in the basement and nearly twice a day in the living space.
Any thoughts/clues/questions/experiments to try and control the humidity level? I would really like to get it down to the 50% range.
Since the house is not even three years old could it still be the house drying out? That is the only thing I can come up with, unless I have a major leak somewhere that I missed.
One more thing.
Outside during the day (right now) is ~90-95 degF with 60% humidity. Outside during the night is ~72-75 degF with 99% humidity. I could run the A/C, but like I said it is over sized so it will get the house back to 74-78 degF before it affects the humidity levels.
Thank you.