With colder weather drying out the air in our homes, home humidification systems are popular purchases this time of year. Humidifiers have long been very convenient and practical during the wintertime here in Ohio. However, most people realize the smaller, standard-size humidification devices normally found in retail stores aren’t ideal for full residential use; they’re really only helpful in smaller areas like individual rooms. If you’re looking to maintain comfortable and safe humidity levels throughout your entire home, a whole-home humidifier is the best option to improve your Indoor Air Quality throughout the winter. Investing in one of these systems easily helps a homeowner maintain the proper levels of humidity in their home during the winter, which is between 30 and 50 percent.
To explain some of the many benefits of a whole home humidification system, we at Westerville Air Conditioning & Heating put together the following list of 6 Major Benefits of Whole-Home Humidifiers:
Fewer Allergy Symptoms
Our immune systems often overreact when the air is dry or there’s too much stuff floating around like pollen. The result is allergy symptoms. When our allergies flare, mucous membranes swell and produce too much mucus. As most people know, these symptoms include watery eyes, sneezing, runny noses and dry skin. When skin dries, hives and other irritations cause or result from excess itching. If you are experiencing allergy problems and your indoor humidity levels are low, getting a whole-home humidifier is something you should definitely consider, if you have not done so already.
Safeguard Against Cold & Flu Season
Respiratory systems are lined with a membrane tissue that needs to maintain moisture to function properly. However, dry air caused by the cold weather can remove this moisture and cause health problems. In addition to removing moisture from this tissue, dry air can lead to irritation, painful sinus problems, sore and scratchy throats and other respiratory tract problems. When cold and flu season arrives, it can make these problems worse, making what would otherwise be a normal cold far more painful and longer lasting. To make matters worse, science has identified many common viruses that spread faster when humidity levels are too low and people with inflamed respiratory systems (like those common in dry homes) are more susceptible to catching these viruses. The result is a deadly combination, a sort of double-edge sword that can bring about a miserable cold and flu season. Understanding this, having a whole-home humidifier is a great way to protect yourself from cold and flu season.
Protecting Wood & Furniture
The wood furniture, trim, molding, and woodwork in our homes does not do well when humidity levels are low and the air is too dry during the winter. Interior wood looks better and lasts a lot longer when we make sure humidity levels are properly maintained. Dry air sucks out moisture not only from our bodies, but also from this interior wood; it damages trim, cabinetry, tables, wooden furniture and wood flooring, making it warp, crack and split. In other parts of the home, window frames and doors can also warp and shrink or become distorted, making it harder to open and close them. To prevent this from happening, having a whole-home humidifier installed is good for not only you, but also for many of our belongings and the actual house itself.
Preferable Sleeping Conditions
Low levels of humidity in a home can create an unhealthy breathing environment that often causes illness and discomfort, which can affect sleep patterns. Sleep disturbances happen when dry air causes snoring. Anyone who’s lived with a person who snores knows how snoring disrupts sleep cycles. It can create sleeping problems for the person snoring and interrupt the sleeping of others in the home. To make matters worse, coughing and breathing problems caused by dry air can interrupt restful sleep as well. Dry throats also aggravate this problem. Fortunately, whole-home humidifiers help with these problems and overall improve sleep quality.
Skin Health
If you have eczema or dermatitis, low levels of humidity can make matters worse. In fact, skin problems are at their worst when the air is cold and/or arid and low levels of humidity can create them. If you’re experiencing dry skin, whole-home humidifiers are great for keeping indoor moisture levels within a comfortable and healthy range. Humidifiers keep moisture in the air which enables skin to hold its natural moisture levels, and this is what gives it elasticity. If skin doesn’t have the moisture it needs, if it loses its elasticity, it develops wrinkles at a much younger age. To make matters worse, oil-producing glands in the body become hyperactive when there’s not enough humidity. This often leads to a condition that causes acne problems to arise or become worse. If you’re looking to maintain optimal indoor humidity levels to keep your skin healthy during the winter, a whole-home humidifier is a great solution.
Convenience
While the smaller humidifiers you can buy at local retail stores might be useful for small spaces, whole-home humidifiers are far superior options for improving the overall air quality of an entire dwelling. Whole-home humidification systems are by far more convenient as well. If you tried to use the smaller humidification devices for your entire residence, you would need numerous units used simultaneously in safe places all over the home. You would need to keep them all full of water, which would be time-consuming, tedious, wasteful and potentially dangerous. Because using several smaller humidifier devices would not be practical, whole-home humidifiers are hands down the best solution. Having this one device installed in your air duct system is hassle free. You won’t ever need to refill it because they are directly linked to your water line. And the humidity would be added to your air supply as it’s distributed into your home from your HVAC system, so you would never need to see it, adjust it or plug it in. Once we put this device in your system, it is fully integrated and ready to go!
Call Us For Your Humidifier Today!
Maintaining healthy humidity levels in a dwelling keeps everyone happier, healthier and far more comfortable. Because we care about the quality of the air in your home, we want you and your loved ones to live comfortably and enjoy the holiday season! If you’re interested in having a whole-home humidifier installed, please call Westerville Air Conditioning & Heating today at 614-810-0075, or schedule an appointment now by clicking here!
