When the winter season settles in, the air becomes dry. This can affect your overall indoor comfort as well as various components of your home. Fortunately, when you use your HVAC system appropriately, you can increase the humidity in your home.
How Dry Air Affects Your Health
Dry air can affect your health in many different ways. It most directly targets your respiratory system, as it dries out your mucous membranes throughout your nose and throat. This makes you more susceptible to developing colds, flu, and other respiratory infections. With your heating system circulating contaminated air, it can significantly reduce your indoor air quality. If you have existing asthma or allergies, you’ll notice irritation or discomfort. Additionally, you may experience itchy skin, dry eyes, and chapped lips.
How Dry Air Affects Your Home
Apart from your health, dry air can also affect the components of your home. Items made of wood can crack or warp. These include your wood furniture, trim, and even your flooring. Your paint or wallpaper may start to bubble or crack. Dry air increases static electricity in your home, which can be damaging to the sensitive components inside your electronics.
What Is Optimal Indoor Humidity
Before we dive into how your HVAC system can help better control the moisture level in your home, you first need to know what’s optimal. Most HVAC professionals recommend an ideal indoor humidity level between 30% and 50%. Anything higher encourages dangerous mold and mildew growth. Anything lower exposes you to the negative side effects of low humidity.
Using a Whole-Home Humidifier
One of the most effective ways to control the humidity in your home is with a whole-home humidification system. This device gets installed directly inside your HVAC ducting to treat all the areas it travels throughout your home. The idea is that a humidifier will add excess moisture to the air to increase your indoor humidity to a more desirable level.
Whole-home humidifiers work by introducing more moisture into the air. You’ll need a thermostat that has a built-in humidistat that monitors your indoor humidity level. You can program in your ideal humidity setting. Anytime that your humidity level drops below that ideal setting, your thermostat will signal your humidifier to turn on. Unlike portable humidifiers, there’s a direct water line that goes to your humidifier. This ensures there’s no manual labor involved.
There are a few different types of whole-home humidifiers you can purchase. Bypass humidifiers are a common option, as they’re fairly affordable for most homeowners. They integrate with your furnace’s ductwork and use your furnace’s warm air to evaporate water into steam. Bypass humidifiers use a water panel or pad that lets air pass through it and pick up moisture relatively quickly. This type of unit only works when your furnace is running.
Another option is a fan-powered humidifier that has a built-in fan. This blows air directly through the water panel, which leads to faster and more efficient humidification. Fan-powered humidifiers work even when your furnace isn’t running, which can be more convenient for homeowners. These do come at a premium price and require more electrical usage than standard bypass models.
The Benefits of Proper Indoor Humidity
When you have an optimal humidity level inside your home, it leads to many benefits. You’ll notice immediate health improvements in the reduction of allergy and asthma symptoms. You’ll no longer have irritation of your nose or throat, and your skin won’t be overly dry. Another major advantage is that it can actually lead to lower utility bills. Moist air will always feel warmer than dry air.
This means if you introduce an optimal humidity level into your home, the heat your furnace produces will make your home feel comfortable. You can actually turn down the temperature on your thermostat when you use a humidifier. When your heater runs less often while you still remain comfortable, you’ll experience lower utility bills.
Another thing to keep in mind is that a whole-home humidifier will ensure there’s adequate humidity to protect the wooden items in your home. You won’t experience cracking or warping, nor a high level of static electricity.
Top-Notch Whole-Home Humidification Systems
Affordable Service Solutions Heating & Air Conditioning offers top-notch whole-home humidification systems in Richmond, KY. We can also help with all your indoor air quality, heating, and cooling needs. Contact us today to book your next service appointment.
