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This very much depends on your local climate and the building itself. Definitely not possible in the flat we live in during the winter unless we run a dehumidi

This very much depends on your local climate and the building itself. Definitely not possible in the flat we live in during the winter unless we run a dehumidifier.

buzzdenver 4y ago
Where do you live? Winter is when people traditionally use humidifiers because the air inside tends to be dry. (Cold air outside has a low absolute humidity, so relative humidity will be low when you heat it up inside.)
- mellavora 4y ago
  A lot of EU heats by steam/water radiators. These don't dry the air the same way forced air heating does. You are right about absolute/relative humidity, but our basement feels damper in winter than summer.
  - sbradford26 4y ago
    Forced air and radiators dry the air equally. Steam radiators sometimes can add humidity to the air it is limited and only when they are initially heating up before the valve closes. What causes dry air in the winter is the act of heating air up. Relative humidity is based on the temperature of the air, so if there is a fixed amount of water in the air, as you heat it the relative humidity goes down. So in the winter cold air slowly comes into the house via air leakage. This air is heated up which drops its relative humidity down. I have lived in houses with baseboard heat and with forced air, and recently converted my house from baseboard heat to forced air. There is no real difference in the relative humidity in the house.
    - ihaveajob 4y ago
      The way I understand this at the gut, conversational level, is by noticing that hot air can carry more water, therefore it will dry your skin faster, which is what "feels" like the air being dry. Heating doesn't remove water from the air, as you explained. But that's what people assume when they argue that "heating doesn't dry the air" as I've heard in the past. Using relative humidity is a good explanation.
      - mannykannot 4y ago
        Even so, it does not explain why one method of heating the air would feel different than another, unless there is something physically different in their effects. Radiant heat feels somewhat different than warm air, but if radiant heat from the radiators of a steam or water system is significant, would that not make them feel dryer? Our house has water radiators, and I do not notice the radiant heat from them. I believe Retric's explanation is the correct one, given that human activity tends to increase the absolute humidity of interior air.
    - Retric 4y ago
      Forced Air generally increase the exchange of new air from outside. Individual rooms will tend to be above or below ambient pressure which causes an exchange of air with the outside. Carefully balanced systems can minimize the effect, but homes are rarely built with this in mind. You can get a related effect with thermostats which raise and lower the house’s temperature over the day as air expands with increased temperature.
      - sbradford26 4y ago
        That is definitely an issue that is out there. Sadly cheap builders try and get away with a single return per floor in a house which is simply not enough. My point is mostly that forced air versus hydronic isn't what causes a difference in dryness of air. It largely comes down to the quality of the install of each and the tightness of the home. Hydronic is typically more expensive and tends to be found it better built homes. My house is an exception to that rule though, I am still working on sealing up air leaks from where all the pipes ran for our baseboard heat.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - JackFr 4y ago
    Steam radiators absolutely dry out the air.
- doublesocket 4y ago
  London. Cold enough that anything in an old Victorian building won't dry but warm enough that the air remains humid.
  - zarzavat 4y ago
    It’s worse if you live in a well insulated energy-efficient building. In winter it’s cold so nobody wants to open the windows. The lack of ventilation means that the moisture has nowhere to go and just accumulates.
    - morsch 4y ago
      We're in central Europe. A few degrees colder than London in Winter, I doubt it matters. I've done it in houses built a hundred years ago (though they were modernized since, obviously) and ones that were build recently with high degrees of insulation (almost but not quite passive). Not an issue. I usually did open the windows for a couple of minutes.
    - roter 4y ago
      Shouldn't be if your building was designed properly, with a proper Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) e.g. [0]. The long and short of it, fresh air is slightly heated by stale outgoing moist air. [0] https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/products/product-information/cooling-and-ventilating-equipment-for-residential-use/heatenergy-recovery-ventilators/16197 https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/products/product-i...
  - Broken_Hippo 4y ago
    I dunno about that - I live in Norway. Most folks dry their clothes inside for most of the year. They take a little longer to dry in the winter, but it really isn't an issue.
    - dagw 4y ago
      Having lived in both Norway and England, Norwegian houses are much warmer and drier indoors during the winter. Every house in England I lived in was damp, basically uninsulated and had terrible heating systems.
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
  Likely Laketown, near the Lonely Mountain.
chiefalchemist 4y ago
You can use a drying rack. They fold up and can be put away. As long as you don't live in the tropics chances are good humidity will always be low enough to dry in a day. https://www.thespruce.com/best-clothes-drying-racks-4154471 https://www.thespruce.com/best-clothes-drying-racks-4154471

This very much depends on your local climate and the building itself. Definitely not possible in the flat we live in during the winter unless we run a dehumidifier.

buzzdenver 4y ago

Where do you live? Winter is when people traditionally use humidifiers because the air inside tends to be dry. (Cold air outside has a low absolute humidity, so relative humidity will be low when you heat it up inside.)

mellavora 4y ago
A lot of EU heats by steam/water radiators. These don't dry the air the same way forced air heating does. You are right about absolute/relative humidity, but our basement feels damper in winter than summer.
- sbradford26 4y ago
  Forced air and radiators dry the air equally. Steam radiators sometimes can add humidity to the air it is limited and only when they are initially heating up before the valve closes. What causes dry air in the winter is the act of heating air up. Relative humidity is based on the temperature of the air, so if there is a fixed amount of water in the air, as you heat it the relative humidity goes down. So in the winter cold air slowly comes into the house via air leakage. This air is heated up which drops its relative humidity down. I have lived in houses with baseboard heat and with forced air, and recently converted my house from baseboard heat to forced air. There is no real difference in the relative humidity in the house.
  - ihaveajob 4y ago
    The way I understand this at the gut, conversational level, is by noticing that hot air can carry more water, therefore it will dry your skin faster, which is what "feels" like the air being dry. Heating doesn't remove water from the air, as you explained. But that's what people assume when they argue that "heating doesn't dry the air" as I've heard in the past. Using relative humidity is a good explanation.
    - mannykannot 4y ago
      Even so, it does not explain why one method of heating the air would feel different than another, unless there is something physically different in their effects. Radiant heat feels somewhat different than warm air, but if radiant heat from the radiators of a steam or water system is significant, would that not make them feel dryer? Our house has water radiators, and I do not notice the radiant heat from them. I believe Retric's explanation is the correct one, given that human activity tends to increase the absolute humidity of interior air.
  - Retric 4y ago
    Forced Air generally increase the exchange of new air from outside. Individual rooms will tend to be above or below ambient pressure which causes an exchange of air with the outside. Carefully balanced systems can minimize the effect, but homes are rarely built with this in mind. You can get a related effect with thermostats which raise and lower the house’s temperature over the day as air expands with increased temperature.
    - sbradford26 4y ago
      That is definitely an issue that is out there. Sadly cheap builders try and get away with a single return per floor in a house which is simply not enough. My point is mostly that forced air versus hydronic isn't what causes a difference in dryness of air. It largely comes down to the quality of the install of each and the tightness of the home. Hydronic is typically more expensive and tends to be found it better built homes. My house is an exception to that rule though, I am still working on sealing up air leaks from where all the pipes ran for our baseboard heat.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- JackFr 4y ago
  Steam radiators absolutely dry out the air.
doublesocket 4y ago
London. Cold enough that anything in an old Victorian building won't dry but warm enough that the air remains humid.
- zarzavat 4y ago
  It’s worse if you live in a well insulated energy-efficient building. In winter it’s cold so nobody wants to open the windows. The lack of ventilation means that the moisture has nowhere to go and just accumulates.
  - morsch 4y ago
    We're in central Europe. A few degrees colder than London in Winter, I doubt it matters. I've done it in houses built a hundred years ago (though they were modernized since, obviously) and ones that were build recently with high degrees of insulation (almost but not quite passive). Not an issue. I usually did open the windows for a couple of minutes.
  - roter 4y ago
    Shouldn't be if your building was designed properly, with a proper Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) e.g. [0]. The long and short of it, fresh air is slightly heated by stale outgoing moist air. [0] https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/products/product-information/cooling-and-ventilating-equipment-for-residential-use/heatenergy-recovery-ventilators/16197 https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/products/product-i...
- Broken_Hippo 4y ago
  I dunno about that - I live in Norway. Most folks dry their clothes inside for most of the year. They take a little longer to dry in the winter, but it really isn't an issue.
  - dagw 4y ago
    Having lived in both Norway and England, Norwegian houses are much warmer and drier indoors during the winter. Every house in England I lived in was damp, basically uninsulated and had terrible heating systems.
TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
Likely Laketown, near the Lonely Mountain.

chiefalchemist 4y ago

You can use a drying rack. They fold up and can be put away. As long as you don't live in the tropics chances are good humidity will always be low enough to dry in a day. https://www.thespruce.com/best-clothes-drying-racks-4154471 https://www.thespruce.com/best-clothes-drying-racks-4154471