Improve Indoor Air Quality With a Whole House Humidifier

Dry nose and throat?  Itchy skin? Upper-respiratory problems?  These are just a few of the many irritating symptoms of dry indoor air.  Actually, one of the driest places on earth could be your home. 

Don’t believe it?  The relative humidity of the Sahara Desert is 25 percent; Death Valley is 23 percent. In the winter months, the average heated home can have a relative humidity as low as 13 – 16 percent. You don't have to suffer with dry indoor air; you can improve indoor air quality with a whole house humidifier.

A whole house humidifier mounts to the furnace and modern version are computer-equipped and completely automatic, delivering up to 50 percent more moisture than portable humidifiers without the need constant for manual adjustments.

Until now, people had to do the thinking for their humidifier, checking the outside temperature and making adjustments as the temperature changed, trying to achieve the optimum humidity level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends maintaining indoor relative humidity between 30 and 50 percent. Even with making many adjustments, homeowners often experienced problems trying to maintain a relatively comfortable humidity level. Too much humidity will create condensation on windows and encourage the growth of mold; too little humidity is not only uncomfortable, but dry air can damage your home and furnishings.

The advanced computer technology of whole house humidifiers like those from companies like Aprilaire [1]measure the outdoor temperature and indoor humidity over thousands of times a day and continually adjust the home’s indoor humidity to its optimum level. It also performs at a level three times more accurate and four times more reliable than other humidifiers, which means users will receive the optimum benefits from their humidifier, and improve their indoor air quality.

The benefits of using an automatic whole house humidifier to improve indoor air quality include:

• Comfort – helps eliminate dry nose and throat and itchy skin, while also reducing static electricity.
• Well being – optimum humidity levels can help reduce the chance of upper-respiratory problems caused by dry air.  Ask your doctor.
• Preservation - proper humidification levels will protect against shrinkage and cracking in furniture, moldings and hardwood floors.
• Energy savings – adding moisture to the air means you’ll not only improve your indoor air quality, you will feel warmer with lower, energy saving indoor temperatures.