You’ve probably turned on your furnace by now and may be experiencing the first round of dry air created when you heat the air. If you find it uncomfortable, consider a whole-house humidifier. These humidifiers evenly distribute water vapor through your furnace ducts to keep you more comfortable when you need heat.
Dry air during the winter is more than a nuisance. It chaps your skin, leads to painful skin cracks, can cause nosebleeds, dries out your hair and creates static electricity. Besides the physical discomforts dry air creates, viruses thrive in dry, winter air, which is partly why winter is the cold and flu season.
The dryness is also hard on your furniture and any wood cabinets or flooring indoors. Over a prolonged period of heating during the fall, winter and spring, cracks can develop, and cabinet panels can shrink away from their frames. Interior paint can even chip easier if the air is too dry.
While you can get some relief with portable humidifiers, a whole-house humidifier offers more advantages, including:
- Ease of operation. You don’t need to fill any tanks or monitor the air for humidity levels. The whole-house units use thermostats and computer chips to regulate the amount of water vapor inside your home.
- Space-saving. The appliances hook to your furnace or the ductwork, out of the way.
- Safety. You’ll have no cords to trip over, and the units are hooked into your plumbing system, so as long as water is serving your home, they’ll never run dry.
- Quiet operation. This is different from portable humidifiers, which use noisy fans.
- Consistent humidity levels. Since the water vapor goes through the ducts with a whole-house humidifier, each room will have the same humidity level.
Although operating a whole-house humidifier is simple, installing one is not. In fact, manufacturers can void the warranty if it’s not installed by a licensed technician. Skills needed include plumbing, electrical and sheet metal work.
If you’d like to learn more about a whole-house humidifier for your home, contact Ace Hardware Home Services, serving the Dayton area since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about humidifiers and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Ace Hardware Home Services services the Ohio’s Miami Valley. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
Humidity meter image via Shutterstock
