Two Questions.

[dsrtao]

One. We live in a house of approximately 25,000 cubic feet. At 65F, air can hold about 1 lb of water per 1000 cubic feet. We have humidifiers that put 2.5 gallons of water into the air in 24 hours. A gallon of water is 8.3 lbs. That's 20.75 pounds of water. Where is the water going, considering that the house is sealed for winter, the front door opens for brief periods a few times per day, and we run the humidifiers every single day?


Two. Why is it that my neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and my right hip, knee and ankle all ache painfully? My left leg and torso seem to be fine.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

You're still exchanging a significant fraction of your house air every day. (pale_chartreuse can probably speak to this more knowledgeably.) Leaks around outlets and light sockets, unsealed windows and doors, air flow up through the attic and out, even through the walls--unless you have a perfect vapor barrier around your house, which given its age I doubt.

I'm sorry to hear about the pains in all the diodes down your right side. Do you sleep funny? Or mouse funny? Or store stress asymmetrically?

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

And him with a brain the size of a planet.

[dsrtao]

The answer to the pain appears to be stress.

pain and stress

[canuckmum.livejournal.com]

In my case, it is just plain old age trickling in... and different parts hurt every day. It is my unfounded belief that stress cause an affinity for pain, and the particular area in which pain occurs is related to sleeping habits,usual daily positions, temperatures in various rooms, dampness [not evenly distributed throughout the house], and plain ornery-ness within the body.

I gobble advil, for various reasons. Funny thing - I do not feel pain when out shopping. Of course the pocketbook feels the pain later.

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

I could go really long on this. It may be that it needs a full write-up in my own lj. I'll try to do an executive summary:

1. Your house is nowhere close to fully sealed. I think I can assume that you have insulation in your walls, but no building wrap except possibly tar paper. This is actually a good thing.
2. How much humidity you nose wants vs how much humidity the building materials of your house wants are very very different. Your sinuses would probably appreciate 60%-70%, your drywall and wood framing would prefer 20%-25%. Experts vary on a good compromise number.
3. The humidifiers aren't even the biggest contributor of moisture, 6 people breathing, cooking and bathing are also significant contributors.
4. The rest of this comes down to dew point calculations. The water vapor in the air will return to a liquid state when it hits a cold point or absorptive materials. This is probably happening in your exterior walls, in your carpets that are over concrete slab, etc. This is the point where ventilation is your friend. You want the moisture to have a chance to dry out before it can encourage growth of mold and dust mites.

If you are getting zapped by your doorknobs and computers, then your house probably is too dry. If you have condensation on the insides of your windows, then you may be overdoing the humidifier.

Try this: Drop three ice cubes into a glass, add water and stir. Wait three minutes. If moisture does not form on the outside of the glass, the air is too dry. (don't do this test in the kitchen or bathroom)

[dsrtao]

Ha. Elizabear told me that if I asked on LJ, I would get an answer.

We aren't getting zapped; most windows do not have condensation on the inside. The humidifiers run in the bedrooms. I was mostly trying to figure out if this meant we had to have a puddle forming somewhere, as I could not see where 2.5 gallons of water that I put into the air was coming out daily.

Thanks.

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

It is possible that you have a puddle forming somewhere, but it would most likely be hidden in your wall insulation or other soft materials (wallpaper, carpet, fabric). If you are getting visible mold on a surface, then there is probably more moisture trapped inside that part of the structure. This will eventually cause rot, so your concern is not unwarranted.