With winter’s cold air on the way, it’s easy to get caught up in how well your furnace is warming up your home and completely forget about humidity. When you start heating for the winter, you may end up with respiratory problems, dry or cracking skin and a sore throat. To stay comfortable, you’ll need to humidify your indoor air. By keeping the moisture levels in your home at a moderate level, you’re ensuring that your home will remain comfortable through the worst winter weather.
Why Humidify?
When cold winter air sweeps in, the air becomes dryer because it loses the capacity to hold moisture. But when cold outdoor air becomes warm indoor air, it’s still just as dry. Warm, dry indoor air can cause health problems with dehydration, respiratory problems like asthma or sinus infections, skin dryness and mucous membrane irritation. It ca also cause problems in your home, drying out wood floors and causing problems with plants, paintings and musical instruments. Low humidity can even raise your heating bill, as a moderate level of humidity actually makes you feel warmer at lower temperatures.
How Humidifiers Work
There are many different kinds of humidifiers available on the market, but they all add moisture to your indoor air by drawing in the air and adding moisture before returning it back to your home. Here are some common varieties:
- An evaporative humidifier uses a saturated wick through which air is pulled to increase humidity.
- A warm mist humidifier heats water and emits it out into your home where it is circulated to raise the humidity.
- An ultrasonic humidifier vibrates the water, creating small droplets of water that are introduced into the air.
How to Humidify Your Home
To keep your indoor air at a comfortable humidity, you’ll want to run your humidifier whenever your HVAC unit is running. Within a short amount of time, you should feel some relief from the symptoms caused by dry indoor air. If you prefer a low-management approach, an in-duct humidifier can be installed that works with your HVAC system automatically.
Now that you know what’s making you so uncomfortable, it’s time to fix the problem. Whether you use a large-capacity portable humidifier or opt for a humidifier added to your HVAC system to provide a comfortable indoor environment, the Orlando air conditioning service experts at Gembecki Mechanical Services are here to meet your needs. Please contact our HVAC service today for more details.
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