As the weather becomes colder and your home's air starts to dry out, consider the benefits of a whole-house humidifier to solve the problems low humidity causes. Overly dry air affects you and your health, along with home electronics and anything made from wood. When air cools off, it can't hold as much humidity, and as temperatures drop and you turn on the heating system, the relative humidity indoors will fall even further.
Natural sources of indoor humidity during the winter include bathing, cooking and household cleaning chores. However, the amount that's released into your air is almost always insufficient during the heating season whose ideal level should range between 30 and 50 percent.
Ideal humidity levels offer these benefits:
- Better health. Some bacteria and viruses thrive in dry indoor air, and transmission between people increases. Chapped skin can crack, causing painful infections, and the nose, throat and sinuses can dry out, creating discomfort.
- More comfort. Dry air feels cooler because the moisture on skin evaporates faster, cooling the skin. Raising indoor humidity levels helps raise the perception of warmth without having to turn up the thermostat, which saves energy and money.
- Less static electricity. Besides being annoying, static electricity can disable anything electronic that uses low-voltage components.
- Home preservation. Because the air indoors seeks equilibrium, as it dries out, it compensates by pulling moisture from anything made of leather or wood indoors, including cabinets, furniture, musical instruments, and flooring. Sometimes the cracking it causes can be expensive or impossible to fix.
Helping you stay healthier and cutting household expenses, including heating bills, are among the many benefits of a whole-house humidifier, but not the only ones. Whole-house systems also simplify the humidification process during the winter. They eliminate the need to fill portable humidifiers daily and clean them frequently. They help you achieve even humidity throughout your home, and do so quietly and efficiently.
The pros at Rodenhiser Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning can show you more benefits of a whole-house humidifier. We've provided exceptional HVAC services for homeowners in the Route 495/128 area of Massachusetts since 1928.
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