3 Ways HVAC Systems Reduce Humidity & Protect Hardwood Floors
During our fall and winter months, as temperatures drop and the rain returns, maintaining your hardwood floors can become a challenge. Humidity can adversely affect natural wood, and leave your flooring damaged and in need of repair or replacement. At AAA Heating and Cooling, our qualified HVAC contractors in Beaverton and Portland provide both services and systems to ensure humidity is kept at bay, so your floors stay in excellent condition.
How Does Portland’s Humidity Affect Hardwood Floors?
To truly understand the effects of humidity on your hardwood flooring, it’s important to know how wood reacts to its environment. As a hygroscopic material, natural wood gains or loses moisture. It expands or contracts based on the moisture content and temperature introduced into its environment. In an overly dry climate wood will shrink, causing gaps between the boards to form. In a moisture-rich environment hardwood will swell causing the boards to be higher on the edges than in the middle. Both can cause long term damage to your floor. In order to increase the longevity of your wood floor, it’s imperative to stabilize your home air climate. This is where your Portland HVAC contractor comes in.
As homeowners in the Portland metro area know, our winters are wet, causing internal humidity levels to increase. Visible mold, condensation forming on windows, and musty odors are all signs that moisture has invaded your home air climate, and could be damaging your flooring. Residential HVAC systems are designed to regulate temperature and humidity within your home, ensuring your wood floor’s optimum performance.
Did you know? HVAC systems are so crucial to the health of wood flooring, that most reputable flooring installation guidelines call for HVAC systems to be installed and functioning five days before any installation takes place. To combat humid environments, our Portland and Beaverton HVAC installers have a wealth of solutions based on the source and intensity of the humidity. Let’s take a look at a few of our recommended options.
Residential HVAC Systems Combat Humidity
A few simple solutions can help you keep humidity at bay and maintain a comfortable home air climate:
- Invest in a dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers speed up the natural evaporation process and remove moisture from the air. They are available as small, portable units that you can move throughout your home or they can be integrated into your HVAC system. At AAA Heating and Cooling, we offer a variety of home dehumidifiers to fit your needs. Contact one of our expert HVAC technicians to learn more.
- Optimize your ventilation. Proper ventilation also helps reduce moisture in the air. Muggy or stuffy rooms are often a result of poor ventilation. A high-quality ventilation system can keep your home’s climate free of excessive humidity as
well as help freshen the air. Whatever your needs, we have a whole-home air ventilation system for you. - Service your current residential HVAC system. Routine maintenance not only increases the lifespan of your HVAC unit, but it can also help reduce humidity. Air filters can become easily clogged, resulting in a poor functioning system. Replacing air filters frequently helps improve air quality and circulation. To see if your home HVAC system needs a new filter, or other repairs, get in touch with us. We’re here to help!
To learn more about humidity control for your home, or to schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable HVAC technicians, give us a call. We also invite you to visit us at our locations in Beaverton and Portland.