If you’ve been cracking out the hand cream or lavishing on the lip balm, you may have noticed lately our air has been a bit dry now that the wet part of summer is over. Dry air in your home can cause itchy skin, dry nose, and sore throats, and is the perfect breeding ground for low-moisture-loving cold and flu viruses. When winter comes you will really begin to notice dry air in your home because furnaces can burn the moisture right out of the air.
Low humidity can also damage wooden objects like furniture, hardwood floors, musical instruments and even your home’s framing, as the dry air sucks out the moisture contained within them. One of the most annoying effects of dry indoor air is static shock. As you walk across a carpet or slide off upholstered furniture, a static charge builds up in your body and results in a sudden, uncomfortable “zap” of electricity when you touch a piece of metal or other conductor.
While you may have no control over the weather outdoors, you can control the humidity level in your home. To avoid the problems associated with low moisture in the air, humidity levels should be at around 30-50%. The moisture released from drying your clothes, boiling water for soup or pasta, or showering does add negligible amounts of moisture to the air. However, one of the most effective ways to do this is with a whole house humidifier.
Whole house humidification is exactly what it sounds like. A professional-grade humidifier installation can be attached directly to your existing heating and cooling system. It provides water vapor directly to your system, distributing it throughout your house via the ductwork of your existing system.
What’s the difference between a whole house humidifier and a portable one? Portable units are often limited to controlling the humidity of one room. Imagine installing units in all of the bedrooms, the living room, and the kitchen. Not only would you be maintaining several units practically every day, your energy bill would soar. A whole home humidifier can constantly monitor the relative humidity of your home and deliver the perfect amount.
Usually a whole home system does not require the same kind of daily maintenance that portable units require, and you don’t have to worry about the problem of microbes that can grow in the standing water of portable humidifiers.
So if you need a direct, low-maintenance way to control the humidity in your home, a whole house humidifier may be the way to go.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about whole house dehumidifiers and other HVAC topics, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Home Comfort Humidifier Repair and Installation services in the Mishawaka/South Bend areas of Indiana.