Indoor Humidity

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Column: What’s the bigger contributor to window frost, breath or flatulence?

Addressing pets’ contributions to indoor humidity:

The mention of a cat “going about its business” raises another issue: humans pee into a toilet which may or may not contribute much to indoor humidity depending on whether the lid is kept down and how much water vapor escapes even if it isn’t, dogs (preferably) pee outdoors, but domestic cats (usually) pee into litter boxes which are open to the air. Thus, it would seem that a cat’s urinary output would almost entirely end up as indoor water vapor (to say nothing or more odoriferous vapors outside the scope of the column).

2

The whole idea of kitty litter is that it absorbs and holds on to moisture, isn’t it?

3

And cats are also far better water conservers than humans.

4

You left out the 14 liters of drool a Labrador deposits on any toys, arms, hands, etc… he/she greets/mouths each day.:eek:

5

Plants have water too …

6

Clearly, you’ve not met my cat. Nevertheless, it’s pretty well absorbed and buried. Well, at least what comes out the back.

Another micturitional consideration is how often you flush. Flushing the toilet sends a lot of water into the air. Not flushing increases the volume (and exposed surface area) in the bowl a bit, but the excess drains off pretty quickly.

Also, women probably humidify less than (most) men for obvious reasons.

And they’re very good at extracting water from soil and transpiring it into the air.

7

I’m glad that in the winter I don’t have to stick a “No Farting” sign on the dashboard.

But in summer it might be better to make sure the car’s air conditioner isn’t recirculating the interior’s “atmosphere.”

8

Pre-teen girls also like having fart stinking contests on long drives.

9

What reasons would those be? They’re not at all obvious to me.

And watchwolf49, plants are net consumers of water, while animals are net producers.

10

Not if you include the water you add to their pot. Almost all that water gets into the air, either through the plant, or just coming out of the soil. Presumably, without the plant there, you wouldn’t continue to just pour the water on the counter.

11

I’m pretty sure a room full of plants has a higher relative humidity than a room without, everything else being equal.