Dehumidify a Room

I thought I'd share this useful information that I learned in thermodynamics as a hub, especially since I think it's reasonably common for many people to come across this situation in their day to day lives. First of all, humidity in your living space is one of those things that can cause a lot of discomfort that you might not even realize (skin, eyes) and pinpoint the cause of. As we are primarily water-based beings, humidity ratios are one of the most important aspects of comfort level, and living at the right humidity level can significantly improve your living conditions and your general well-being. That being said, I'd urge everyone to go get a humidifier/dehumidifier (especially one that cleans the room as well).

However, this hub is about the quick and easy (and free!) solution to help dehumidify your room. And the answer is...Ice! It's quite amazing, but ice contained in a covered bottle, container or plastic bag actually attracts condensation to form around it. This literally reduces the amount of water (in gaseous form) floating around in the air, which reduces the humidity of the room.

Try this out on a hot day when you can really feel the sweat dripping on your forehead. Also, it's especially easy to try in a hotel if you feel the humidity, since you can very easily get some ice in one of those containers most hotels provide. You'll see condensation accumulate quite quickly on the sides. On the flip side, having ice in one of those containers does decrease the humidity in the room even if it's relatively dry already. There is a way to counteract this, which is described in my other hub page, "Humidify a Room."

This ice method works especially well for smaller rooms/living space, and larger exposed container surface areas. The effects may not be immediate, but it doesn't take a large change to feel much better. This is because 100% humidity (at 80 degrees fahrenheit) means that the amount of water is roughly 1% of the total weight of air. Thus, to go down to 90% humidity, you only have about remove a tenth of a percent (0.1%) of the weight of air in the room on your container. Hope you can take comfort in making your living space more comfortable!