During cold winter months, the air naturally becomes drier. When your furnace runs, it strips whatever moisture remained in the air, making your home feel completely arid. Fortunately, you have an effective option for countering dry air: install a humidifier.
Any form of humidification helps, even if you simply keep a small portable unit in your bedroom. However, the best option is a whole-house humidifier, which connects with the furnace to deliver warm, moist air to every room. If you humidify your home during the winter months, you can expect to enjoy the benefits listed here.
Prevent Dry Skin
You’re probably familiar with the itchy skin, chapped lips, and dry nasal passages that come with cold winter weather, especially if you live in an arid climate. Running a humidifier prevents these uncomfortable symptoms, helping to keep your skin, lips, and nasal passages moist and healthy.
Sleep Better
It’s common for your mouth to fall open when you sleep, which quickly dries out your mouth and throat. You may even wake up every couple of hours with an intense need for a drink of water. Adding moisture to the air helps you sleep more comfortably and may even help cut down on snoring, which is great news if you share your bed.
Ease Allergy Symptoms
It’s important to humidify indoor air the right amount. Too much humidity could allow mold to grow and dust mites to thrive. However, too little humidity irritates your nose and throat, which makes your allergy symptoms appear worse. Whole-house humidifiers have a built-in humidistat to achieve the ideal relative humidity level, which is typically between 30 and 50 percent. At this level, the increased humidity soothes your airways to make your allergy symptoms less pronounced.
Get Over Colds Faster
Winter is cold and flu season because microscopic bacteria and viruses thrive at lower humidity levels. They travel through the air with greater ease when water vapor doesn’t hamper their movement, making colds and influenza more contagious. Increasing the humidity level in your home dramatically reduces the presence of airborne germs and helps your body fight illnesses faster.
Make Your Home Feel Warmer
You may worry about the increased costs of operating a whole-house humidifier, but it can actually save you money! After all, humid air is already saturated with moisture, so less water evaporates from your skin. Evaporation has a cooling effect, so by limiting it, you feel warmer when the air is humid. This increased comfort allows you to turn down the temperature by a degree or two without feeling uncomfortable, lowering your heating bills in the process.
Reduce Static Buildup
Static electricity increases in dry conditions. It makes your clothes stick to your body and your hair stand on end, and if you touch something metal, you get a nasty shock. You might even accidentally short out your computer or create dangerous sparks with the static buildup in your body. Properly humidified air limits static shock so you can avoid these unpleasant scenarios.
Protect Wood Belongings in Your Home
Dry air affects you because your body is comprised primarily of water. As an organic material, wood responds to low humidity as well by drying, shrinking, and cracking. This means dry indoor air could loosen wood floorboards, prevent wooden doors from shutting tightly, and make your grand piano go out of tune. When used properly, a humidifier ensures the wood in your home always looks and functions its best.
To learn more about the benefits of humidifiers during the winter months, or to schedule whole-house humidifier installation, please contact Aire Serv® today.
