Given the time of year, it makes sense that you’d be concerned with the temperature in your home. A lack of heat can lead to a number of problems in your household, especially for anyone prone to illness. Naturally, you want your Round Rock, TX HVAC system to run efficiently and effectively all winter long.
But a high-quality furnace or heat pump is only part of the equation when it comes to your indoor comfort in the winter!
Dry air can be a terrible inconvenience in the colder months, and heaters don’t do anything to improve matters. It would do you well to consider the installation of a whole house humidifier to combat this problem and avoid living through a miserable winter. Are humidifiers really all they’re cracked up to be though?
A Look at the Problem of Low Humidity
When temperatures drop, the ambient moisture in the air shifts from gaseous to liquid form and leaves the atmosphere. In the spring and summer, this is present in dew on the ground that forms in the cool early morning hours.
In the winter, however, this process makes your air too dry to bear. Humans are most comfortable when the relative humidity levels—the measures of the amount of moisture in the air—stays between 30–50%. When that level falls, we start to feel it. You may be affected by it more than you even realize, thinking the following symptoms are caused by other factors:
- Dry air causes your skin to dry out, leading to uncomfortable itching, rashes, and chapped lips. It can even lead to cracked and chapped skin.
- Dry air also dries out the mucous membranes in your sinuses, depleting one of your bodies’ primary means of fighting colds and illnesses. This is one of the reasons why colds are more common in the winter. (No, cold air itself does not cause illness!)
- Dry air causes static electricity. This one you probably knew already. In fact, you might have had a little fun with it at times—sliding your socked feet across the carpet to be able to “shock” a sibling, or making your hair stand up by rubbing it on the couch. As amusing as this part of static electricity is, it can also cause your outlets to spark, leading to fire hazards.
- Dry air can damage home furnishings and wallpaper, especially when it lasts for days without any relief.
- Last and not least, dry air forces your heater to work harder than it needs to. This is because it often feels colder in the house when the air is too dry.
The Benefits of a Humidifier
A humidifier fights against all the above symptoms, but that last one is particularly important. When you have a whole-house humidifier installed in your home, you help out the heating system. It won’t have to struggle to do its job, which means it will work more efficiently and effectively, ultimately lowering your energy costs. This is reason enough to ask our pros about how you would benefit a humidifier installation.
For superior HVAC and indoor air quality services, contact Roznovak’s Services today!
