Keeping the relative humidity in your home between 40 and 60 percent is an excellent way to stay comfortable and healthy. But, in the winter, when it’s naturally less humid, that’s tough to do. A whole house humidifier can keep your home warm and cozy while also improving your indoor air quality.
Wintertime brings a different moisture problem than the summer. That’s because warm air naturally holds more water vapor than cold air. So, you end up with humidity in the summer and dry air in the winter.
Meanwhile, your heater adds to the problem: It’s heating cold air without adding moisture. Then you end up with unnaturally dry air.
A home humidifier solves this problem by adding humidity to every room in your house! Depending on your HVAC setup, you’ll need a forced air humidifier or heat pump humidifier.
Either way, we hook it up to your water supply and a humidistat. This way, it works on its own all the time without you having to turn anything on and off.
Four Benefits Of A Whole House Humidifier For The Winter
Is a whole house humidifier worth the investment? Here are four reasons why it is:
- Lowers Virus Transmission
- Keeps You Warmer
- Prevent Dry Skin And Nosebleeds
- Preserve Furniture And Floors
Lowers Virus Transmission
Controlling humidity in the winter is far, far from a cure-all when it comes to getting sick or spreading viruses. But, it does play an important role. And a home humidifier can help.
Viruses spread easier in the winter than in the summer because the cold air is naturally less humid. Particles get weighed down when they attach to water droplets in the air. That makes them fall to the ground.
But, in the winter, when the air is less humid, the virus particles spread much further. There’s less moisture to weigh them down, making it easier for you to breathe them in.
Meanwhile, low humidity also makes your body more susceptible to infections. We’ll explain how a little later in this article.
For now, however, the point is that when you keep your humidity at a healthy level, you slow down the rate of transmissions.
Keeps You Warmer
Let’s talk about home comfort. When we’re talking about HVAC in the winter, we’re talking about feeling warm and cozy no matter how bleak, cold and windy it gets outside. And, yes, humidity plays a role in that.
It’s not just that you feel more comfortable when the air isn’t unnaturally dry. You do, of course, but there’s even more at play.
In the summer, humidity makes you too hot. The moisture acts as a blanket, keeping the heat your body is trying to expel close to you. In the winter, you want that — to a certain degree, anyway.
We already talked about how cold air is naturally less humid than dry air. Well, when it comes to HVAC, there’s even more to the story.
Your heater takes cold air and warms it up. It adds heat but not humidity. Now you’ve got dry air that’s warm but not as humid as you want.
As a result, it doesn’t always feel quite as warm as it would with the amount of water vapor you’re used to at that temperature.
This is partly why people like radiator or steam heat: It keeps the air from drying out.
But, if you have forced air or a heat pump, adding a humidifier solves the problem. You’ll feel more comfortable and a little warmer.
You’ll also get rid of a few common, minor health issues (that can lead to bigger health issues).
Prevent Dry Skin And Nosebleeds
You know how some people get nosebleeds out of nowhere in the winter? Low humidity is to blame. The same goes for dry, cracking skin. A house humidifier keeps this from happening at home.
Without enough moisture, your body begins drying out. It’s not like you’ll become leathery all of a sudden, but the subtle ways in which it happens cause problems.
First, the capillaries in your nose dry out and rupture. That’s what causes the nosebleeds. Meanwhile, your skin dries out and cracks without enough moisture around to absorb.
But, these problems are about more than comfort (and maybe a stained shirt or two). Virus particles and other pathogens can enter your body through these tiny cracks and ruptures.
That’s right: winter nosebleeds and dry hands make it easier for you to get sick.
We hinted a few times before in this article about how humidity affects your health, and this is it. In a sense, keeping the humidity higher in the winter stops virus transmissions on both the “giving” and “receiving” ends.
With more moisture in the air, the particles don’t travel nearly as far once they attach to water droplets. And, your body is more secure with fewer cracks, ruptures, and openings for them to enter.
Preserve Furniture And Floors
Finally, let’s talk about furniture and floors — and some musical instruments for that matter. Anything you have that’s made of wood is prone to the same problems as your skin drying out.
Just like your body, wood floorboards or furniture can crack if they get too dried out. Unlike your skin, however, they won’t heal.
And, instruments — especially acoustic guitars — can run into the same problems. The lower humidity, the more likely it is that the body of your guitar will crack.
Using a forced air humidifier or humidifier for your heat pump can prevent all this from happening.
Whole House Humidifier Installation In Havertown, PA
Call or email us here at John Cipollone to learn more about whether a whole house humidifier is the way to go for your Havertown, PA home! We’ve served Havertown, PA, along with DelCo and Montgomery County for decades and are here to help you stay comfortable and healthy all winter long!