Will a Space Heater Lower Humidity - portablefrozenheat (2024)

Space heaters are a wonderful way to augment heat during the coldest times of the year. When you turn them on, they not only warm up the room but they also rob the vicinity of moisture. You know you have a bit of extra humidity during this time, so you might consider using it to double as a dehumidifier.

Will a space heater lower humidity? While a space heater does evaporate moisture from everywhere and everything in its proximity, it doesn’t have the capacity to lower large amounts of humidity. For this, you should use a dehumidifier.

That said, when you have slight humidity in the room, turning a space heater on should do the trick. But, if you know you have excessive moisture, look into using a dehumidifier.

How Will a Space Heater Lower Humidity?

A space heater can and will lower humidity in the room. It will push the moist air around for a while, but soon after, it will dry it up and cause the moisture to evaporate. But, it’s first important to understand that warm air has more moisture than cold.

When space heaters warm the air, it might dry out the air, but the water precipitates. Since the water molecules are heating up, it can actually increase humidity. This is because there isn’t ventilation connected to the space heater to deposit the humidity away from the area.

Dehumidifiers

This means there’s the potential for allergens, bacteria and mildew to grow in the walls, wood and other organic materials. Dehumidifiers are best for these situations. They pull moisture out of materials and the air via a pump.

So, if the room is very humid, it’s best not to turn on a space heater. But, if there’s a slight bit of humidity, you can use a space heater to take care of the issue. You want to remember, though, that if the environment gets too arid, it can cause your skin to dry out complete with a stuffy nose and frizzy hair.

When Is It Ideal to Run a Space Heater to Lower Humidity?

Most newer homes usually don’t have problems with profuse humidity in wintertime. It’s not often they will have the condensation that builds up within the walls. So, if there’s a slight increase in the air’s moisture, a space heater can help to evaporate it from the immediate environment.

If you live in an older house, it may not have the insulation to prevent moisture buildup. During the day, any ice and frost from the night before will melt and moisten within the inner walls. This leaches out into any given room and increases humidity levels.

At night, when the temperatures drop outside, it refreezes the water on the walls and creates a seal for the humidity in the room. Then, when you turn on the space heater, it warms up all the moisture and water floating in the air. It does little to remove the humidity if the levels are high.

How to Determine a Room’s Humidity?

When you’re unsure about the humidity levels in the room, get a hygrometer. These will measure the relative humidity of any given area. You can get ones that mount on the wall or a handheld type. There are some thermostats on the market that include a hygrometer.

When to Use a Space Heater, Dehumidifier or Humidifier?

Ideally, you want to have a reading that ranges between 30% and 50% humidity. Therefore, if your reading says 60%, using a space heater can lower humidity at a comfortable level. But, when your reading is as high as 70% or 80%, then you’re going to need to use a dehumidifier.

Conversely, when you have a reading that falls below 30%, a space heater will take out even more moisture from the air. This can actually make you feel colder because humidity is what helps us stay warm. For such an instance, you should have a humidifier placed at an opposite location to the space heater.

In the case you want to heat up a room and remove massive amounts of humidity, get a desiccant dehumidifier. These particular types of dehumidifiers remove heat while increasing a room’s warmth.

Conclusion

So, although a space heater can very much help to lower humidity, you shouldn’t rely on it when the room is thick with moisture. In this instance all the heater will do is heat up and move water particles around.

When considering will a space heater lower humidity, there are some things to take into consideration. Not every instance of high air moisture will benefit from using a space heater. So while a space heater will lower humidity, it’s not going to be a good idea for rooms that build up condensation in the walls.