Winter has come seemingly overnight and now that the outdoor temperature has dropped I am sure you have noticed a change in the comfort in your home. You probably have already felt drier skin, nose and throat, sneezing, chapped lips and generally feel colder, even though your thermostat temperature has not changed. Besides your nose, you may have also noticed shrinkage in your wood floors, furniture, cabinets, musical instruments and trim.
The reason for what’s happening is your home is really starting to dry out. Even if the outdoor humidity is at 80%-90%, when we heat that air to 70 degrees in our homes, the relative humidity can drop below 10%. Maintaining proper humidity in your home is one of the easiest ways to restore comfort during the cold winter months.
The optimal humidity in your home in winter should be maintained at around 35%, and this can be done automatically with a whole house humidifier. One comfort fact to keep in mind is that when we add humidity to the air at any given temperature, the air will feel warmer to our skin. This being said, you will probably be able to turn down your thermostat a few degrees, still feel warm and save money on your energy bills.
Certain models of humidifiers today are better than older models. These models use less water (up to 50% less) while producing humidity more efficiently so they are very eco-friendly. They are easier to service, quieter and fit more applications.
Probably one of the hardest things for our customers to understand is how to set our humidistat. To prevent window condensation during the heating season, the recommended indoor RH is 30% to 50%. When it is colder than 15 degrees outdoors, recommended indoor RH needs to be dropped to around 30% or damaging condensation will occur on windows and walls.
Today, a control is on the market that will adjust your humidifier automatically, based on outdoor temperature. This control can be added even to older humidifiers. It’s great as it takes the guesswork out of setting the correct humidity. It even makes sure the humidifier will not run in the summertime.
Today’s high tech humidifiers install for between $500.00-800.00 and that’s a small price to pay for six months of comfort. Service is easy too, as a simple filter change gets them ready for the winter season. Questions, just give us a call.