When discussions take place regarding indoor air quality, the topic of whole home humidifiers must be included.
A home without humidification that is heated during the long cold winters can be as dry as the Sahara Desert. The effects of lack of sufficient moisture in the air include dry irritated noses, often with bleeding; static charges; loose joints in wood furniture, squeaking and cracking wood flooring.
Low relative humidity can have serious health and comfort implications such as speedier progression of colds and flu viruses in dry air. Cold, dry air on its own can aggravate asthma. Dry, cold air can also have an impact on your energy bill. It can actually make you feel colder at normal temperatures, causing you to increase the home temperature. Dry, itchy skin, eyes, and throat can all be traced back to air that’s not properly humidified. Dry air can cause structural damage to hardwood flooring, crown moulding, furniture, and musical instruments such as pianos.
A modern fresh water, flow-through humidifier will eliminate most of these problems.
There are two types of humidifiers on the market: Bypass Evaporative style or Steam humidifiers. The Evaporative flow through style has various models including the fan powered unit, a water saver unit, and small and large bypass units. The steam humidifier can produce from 11.7 gallons of moisture per day up to 34.6 gallons and is appropriate for larger homes. Indoor relative humidity (RH) ideally should be kept between 30% and 50%.