If your home is too dry in the wintertime, it can be more difficult to heat to a comfortable temperature and cause minor health issues. A humidifier may be the solution.
What Causes Dry Air In Your Home?
During the colder months, the outside air is generally much less humid than during the summer. Running your furnace further dries the air, which can lead to very low humidity in your home.
Issues Caused by Dry Indoor Air
Dry Air is Less Comfortable
Air that has moisture in it can hold more heat. If the air in your home is very dry, it isn’t able to hold the same level of heat, and you will need to increase the temperature in order to feel comfortable˜which of course affects your heating bill.
Dry Air Can Cause Health Issues
Ongoing exposure to dry air can cause the mucus lining in your respiratory tract to dry out. This usually causes irritation in your nose and lungs, and greater susceptibility to viruses and infections.
Dry air can also dry out your eyes and skin due to the more rapid evaporation of tear fluid and skin moisture.
Adding Humidity To Your Home
If the air in your home is dry during the winter months, there are a few things you can do.
Things You Can Do Yourself
Hang laundry to dry inside instead of using a dryer, and/or place pots or bowls of water near warm surfaces such as woodstoves and radiators to encourage moisture into the air.
While these things can help, however, their overall effect will be minimal if your air is very dry.
Use Portable Humidifiers
A portable humidifier can help add humidity to smaller spaces. This can be beneficial in a bedroom or family room where you might spend several hours. However, it likely won’t offer enough humidity to adjust the air quality of your whole home.
Add Humidity While You Heat
Whole home furnace humidifiers add moisture to the air while your furnace is running. The moisturized air gets circulated throughout the whole house, making it feel warmer and more comfortable as well as helping prevent health issues.
This is one of the easiest solutions. You can be sure the air in your entire home is at a healthy and comfortable level of humidity. You can also precisely control the humidity percentage through your home thermostat.
Get A Professional Review of Your Air Quality
The air quality experts at Clean Air Solutions would be happy to help asses the quality of the air in your home and can advise you if you need a humidifier or any other adjustments to your indoor air quality. Contact them today to ensure you and your family live comfortably, healthfully, and warmly this upcoming winter
