How Dehumidifiers and Humidifiers Help Manage COPD

People living with COPD must strike a balance between having enough humidity and avoiding excess moisture, especially as spring transitions into a hot summer. As we go into spring and what is likely to be a very hot summer. Right now, we are starting to say goodbye to the dry, chilly winter months as we move into spring.

The importance of humidifiers for oxygen therapy

You might already know how humidifiers help maintain a comfortable balance during oxygen therapy. An in-room unit or an attachment to your oxygen concentrator may help provide much-needed moisture with the oxygen delivery. This is especially helpful when you are being subjected to the constant flow of air being forced into your delicate nasal passages.

As soon as humidity begins to make its way into the house, it is only a matter of time until the levels begin to have an effect on your lungs. Heavy or weighted lungs, frequent wet coughing, and increased heat fatigue are some of the typical issues that may arise as a result of the summer heat and humidity and their influence on your lungs. These side effects can occur even during simple tasks like walking around your house.

Finding the ideal home humidity level for COPD

The ideal humidity levels in your house are between 30% and 50%, and just as cold air will find a way to enter your home, warm air, along with the moisture that comes along with it, will also find a way to enter your home with the same purpose.

When humidity rises above 50%, you may feel like your lungs are carrying that excess moisture. It makes it harder to breathe. And no one with COPD needs to add to the struggle to breathe with excess moisture in their home.

Dehumidifiers allow the excess moisture to be pulled from the air and collected in the unit as cooler, dryer air gets released back into the room. This will not only keep excess moisture from entering your lungs but also assist in lowering the room temperature and ease the burden on your AC unit.

The dehumidifier unit needs to be emptied and cleaned daily, depending on the humidity levels in the home. In early spring, you may not have to empty the water receptacle if the humidity levels are low. When it is 95 degrees in the shade in the middle of July, you will see how fast the water reservoir fills up.

Some units have built-in humidity monitors. If not, you can get one for under $10 that tells you the temperature and humidity levels in a digital readout that you can put anywhere in the room. My mom kept it next to her on the ottoman with the remote.

When we installed the dehumidifier in the main living area of our home, my mom felt the excessive heat weight on her lungs lift within hours of plugging it in.

Maximizing comfort and savings

We didn't use it every day. Before turning the dehumidifier on, we would first check the current indoor humidity levels.

During the warmer months, it significantly improved both the quality of her breath and the amount of money we saved.