The winter season is notorious for dry air here in the Burlington, Kentucky area as well as in many other locations across the country. Excessively dry air in your home can produce some troubling symptoms, affecting your comfort, health, and even your house itself. Humidifiers are the solution you need for balanced humidity throughout the year. Let’s look at how whole house humidifiers work, how they can help you avoid dry air issues, and how to determine if you need one.
Signs You Need a Whole House Humidifier
Before we discuss how whole house humidifiers work, let’s find out if you even need to have one installed in your home. This winter, you need to be on the watch for signs that dry air is present in your home. If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s time to install a humidifier to help you end them.
- You or your loved ones are suffering from dry, itchy skin, despite using moisturizer.
- Members of the household are experiencing bloody noses out of nowhere, and they’re happening more often.
- You or a family member appear to have a winter cold they just can’t shake, with lingering symptoms that never seem to resolve like a sore throat or lasting cough.
- You can’t touch anything or anyone in the home without receiving a big jolt of static shock.
- Your woodwork and wood furniture has seen better days and is suffering from cracks.
- Wood floorboards in the house are suddenly creaky and squeaky underfoot.
- Wood doors aren’t closing properly or fitting correctly within door jambs.
Can a Whole House Humidifier Solve These Problems?
The answer is: absolutely! Whole house humidifiers work by adding moisture to the home’s air. As relative humidity levels increase to the balanced range, you’ll notice those dry air symptoms start to fade away.
- With more moisture in the air, your skin will be able to retain more moisture so it doesn’t crack and itch.
- Increasing airborne moisture levels prevents mucus membranes in the body from drying out. Your nasal passages will remain moist so you’re less prone to nosebleeds. Your throat and lungs will gain the moisture they need to eliminate that cough or sore throat you’ve been stuck with all season.
- When the air contains more moisture, static electricity subsides. Electric charges have a harder time sticking to your body, and they are able to move around better so you don’t get zapped whenever you touch something or someone.
- Wood is heavily affected by moisture and humidity, and it dries out when the air is dry. Using a humidifier keeps plenty of moisture in your home’s air so your woodwork doesn’t become damaged and you don’t experience the annoying issues of creaky floorboards and doors that don’t fit properly into their frames.
How Does a Whole House Humidifier Work?
Now that you know why they’re good for your home, how do whole house humidifiers work anyway? Whole house humidifiers work by adding moisture to the air circulating throughout your home. Their operation raises the indoor relative humidity level in the home so you can keep it within a balanced range of 30 to 50 percent and avoid common dry air issues.
A whole house humidifier is a type of indoor air quality equipment that works with your home’s HVAC system to provide benefits across the entire living space rather than in just one small area, like portable humidifiers do. A portable humidifier only provides coverage to one room or small area of a home.
Steam humidifiers boil water to generate steam which is then released into the ductwork, allowing circulating air to gain needed moisture. Whole house humidifiers that are either bypass humidifiers or fan-powered units draw air into the humidifier using the furnace’s fan (bypass) or a dedicated fan in the unit (fan-powered). Air passes through a water panel where it gains moisture before continuing its journey through the heating system and ducts to your living areas.
Whole House Humidifier Installation in Burlington, KY
If you have questions about how whole house humidifiers work or using them with your HVAC system, you know who to call! Poston Brothers Heating & Cooling offers whole house humidifier installation and service for homeowners throughout the Burlington, KY area and surrounding communities. To learn more or request an installation estimate, contact us today.