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Comment by cameronh90 | Hacker News Reader

I'm in the UK, extra humidity is the last thing I'd ever want in winter.

At the moment, I've got two beefy dehumidifiers running and I'm still at between 70-85% humidity in each room. I don't have any damp or leaks, it's just that the outdoor humidity has been 80-90% for the last few weeks, so ventilation is futile. And because of the weather at the moment, we're drying clothes indoors.

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What is the temperature outside? Humidity is measured relatively (to how much water air can hold at the current temperature), so even 100% humidity outside at a moderately chilly temperature outside can still translate into uncomfortably dry (e.g., less than 35%) humidity inside.

Currently about 17c in the day, 14c at night. At the time of writing, outdoor is 13c and RH is 95%. It was 22c the other day, however it is quite unseasonably warm right now. Once it gets into proper winter weather, normal daytime climate is around 10c-ish and 80%-90% humidity. I've never seen my indoor humidity lower than about 50% without a dehumidifier except after a really long dry spell in the summer or a really cold day in winter.

It doesn't often get that cold here, just very damp. Global warming is making winters even wetter. The UK actually has a fair bit of "temperate rainforest" and is classed as a humid temperate oceanic climate.

What region of the UK are you located in?

Inner London, which is going through a bit of a damp period right now after a really dry summer. I'm not sure if those two things are related, but technically we are still in drought even though my garden is basically a swamp right now.

My tropical plants are enjoying it though.

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