During the cold months, the air in your home tends to become dry due to excessive heating. This is because it lacks humidity, which is an important factor in comfort and health. Your skin can feel dry, your lips can start to chap and your eyes can start to itch. Red eyes, difficulty in breathing, and painful sinuses are just some of the common problems caused by dry air during winter.
This is a time when furnaces usually work round the clock. To keep the cold out, reduce ventilation and circulation of air, we usually close our windows and use thick curtains. Concurrently, rain and melting snow can increase the amount of moisture coming into the house through crawl spaces, basements, and walls. Since less moisture leaves the house, humidity levels inside can start to rise.
However, the best way to maintain a good amount of humidity in your home is to have a whole-home humidifier. Marsh Heating and Air Conditioning is your trusted HVAC company in Fridley MN that carries energy-efficient whole-home humidifiers.
Understanding Humidity
Humidity is the amount of water vapor found in the air. Water vapor is the gaseous state of water and is invisible to the human eye. You can increase the level of moisture in your home by doing certain activities such as cooking, washing, bathing, and exercising. In addition, breathing also brings moisture into the air. Your family and pets bring many liters of water into your home every day. Moisture can also enter your house from the soil through the basement or crawl space.
Effects of Poor Humidity
In winter, especially when the cold outside air is heated indoors, the humidity can drop to as low as 10–20%. This low humidity can cause undesirable health effects, by drying out mucous membranes such as the lining of the nose and throat, which can cause respiratory irritation. Low moisture levels can also affect wooden furniture, causing shrinkage and loose joints or cracking of pieces. Books, papers, and artworks may dwindle or bend and become brittle in very low humidity.
On the other hand, bugs and mold develop in areas that have humidity levels of 70-80 percent. Research has found that mite populations stop growing and die out when relative humidity goes under 60 percent.
Improper moisture levels can also damage your electronic devices, which are sensitive to damage by condensation. Moisture can corrode internal contacts and lower insulation resistance, which may cause short circuits.
How a Humidifier Can Help
A humidifier increases moisture in an individual room or an entire building. In the home, point-of-use humidifiers are commonly used to humidify a single room, while whole-house or furnace humidifiers, which connect to a home’s HVAC system, provide humidity to the entire house.
A humidifier helps improve sleep. We tend to snore more if our sinuses and throats are dry. A moist environment feels warmer and more comfortable, which can encourage a good night’s sleep. If anyone in your home snores, a humidifier may help.
A humidifier helps you heal faster by shortening your suffering if you have a cold, a sinus infection, or the flu. Keeping your nasal passages and your throat moist will help you heal faster, and will reduce symptoms like coughing and sneezing.
A humidifier helps reduce your heating costs. If you add the right amount of moisture into the air, it will feel warmer, which enables you to increase the temperature and save money on energy.
A humidifier helps lower your risk of infections. Properly humidified air prevents the development of viruses and bacteria. A humidifier can keep you and your family from catching airborne diseases.
Ask the Humidification Experts
In addition to all these benefits, a humidifier requires minimal maintenance. Humidifiers are normally connected to the home’s plumbing system, so the water used for humidification is directly supplied to the unit. They provide moisture to your home without the need for continuous checking on the equipment.
If you’re looking for a whole-home humidifier this season, call Marsh Heating and Air Conditioning. It is our goal to provide you with total home comfort solutions that’s why we partnered with only the most reliable names in the industry. We are your leading St. Louis Park heating and air conditioning company.