When it comes to enhancing your indoor comfort level, a great place to start is with improving your indoor air quality. If it’s out of whack, you could deal with issues like stuffiness in the summer and dry skin in the winter. Fortunately, whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers can be great investments for homeowners looking to get more comfort inside their homes.
How Does Humidity Affect Your Health?
Indoor humidity can have a significant effect on your overall health and well-being at home. When humidity levels are too low, it can lead to dry skin and chapped lips. You may notice sinus irritation as your mucous membrane dries out. This can make you more susceptible to contracting airborne illnesses. Bacteria and viruses will be able to live suspended in the air for longer when humidity levels are low. This further increases your family’s chances of contracting illnesses during the wintertime.
When your indoor humidity level gets too high, it can also negatively affect your health. When humidity levels are high, your body might struggle to control its internal temperature more. When you sweat, less will be naturally absorbed into the surrounding air, and you’ll be more prone to dehydration, fatigue, muscle cramps, and even allergies.
High humidity levels can also create the perfect environment for airborne organisms to easily replicate. Mold and mildew spores are some of the most well-known that can propagate quickly in high-humidity environments and can be detrimental to your respiratory health.
How Does Humidity Affect Interior Temperature?
Humidity can affect the indoor temperature of your home and how you perceive that temperature. When humidity levels are low, the dry air will struggle to retain the heat that your heating system produces. This can lead your heating system to overwork to keep up with your heating demands.
However, when the air is very humid, it can make you feel as if your home is much hotter than it is. This is because your body is overheating due to the lack of air to naturally wisk away your sweat and cool you down. You might find yourself turning down the temperature on your air conditioning system to try to stay cool, which will inevitably cause your cooling system to spend more energy and cause excessive wear and tear on its internal components.
How Does Humidity Affect Your Home?
The effects of humidity don’t just stop at your health or the temperature. They can also affect parts of your home. When indoor humidity levels are too high, it fosters mold and mildew growth. Both of these microbial growths can be damaging to the components of your home, like your drywall, and belongings.
Furthermore, high humidity causes wood to expand. This can affect the well-being of your wood items, like furniture, doors, window frames, and other objects. In fact, you may find that your doors seem to get suck when trying to open them or they don’t want to shut the whole way.
What Is a Whole-Home Humidifier?
Most individuals are familiar with portable humidifiers that work to introduce moisture into the air. Used more prominently in the wintertime, adding moisture can help alleviate the traditional problems associated with low humidity. These include protecting wood furniture and reducing your risk of experiencing dry skin and even the flu.
It can be overwhelming to think about buying a portable humidifier for each room of your home. Having to keep up with adding water every day can be annoying, to say the least. Fortunately, a whole-home humidifier can be the perfect solution. This type of device is installed inside your HVAC ducting and works to deliver the necessary moisture to all the different rooms of your home via your home’s ductwork.
With the help of a special thermostat that can monitor and control the relative humidity level instead of your home, you can simply enjoy a more comfortable humidity level. All you have to do is set your desired humidity level on your thermostat and your whole-home humidification system will do the rest for you. Even better, you’ll never have to worry about adding water to your system as it will do that automatically as well.
The Many Benefits of a Whole-Home Humidifier
When you decide to invest in a whole-home humidifier, you can enjoy a more comfortable environment during the winter months. You can help to significantly reduce your family’s risk of developing illnesses and make the air feel warmer. When there’s more moisture in the air, heat will linger for longer. Your family will breathe more comfortably and have less of a struggle with dry, itchy skin, a common winter complaint.
You’ll also be able to turn your thermostat down a bit since higher humidity levels will ensure your comfort at a lower temperature. That translates to energy savings and a lower power bill. A whole-home humidifier can also be a great way to boost your home’s overall resale value.
What Is a Whole-Home Dehumidifier?
Similar to a whole-home humidifier, you can also invest in a whole-home dehumidifier for the summer months. Instead of strategically introducing moisture into the air, a whole-home dehumidifier will actively work to remove excess humidity from inside your home.
This can be extremely helpful during the summer months to remove excess humidity from inside your home. When there’s less humidity, your body will be able to comfortably sweat and cool itself down as intended. You may even find that when you run your whole-home dehumidifier, you can turn up the temperature setting on your thermostat because you’re more comfortable in your home environment.
The Many Benefits of a Whole-Home Dehumidifier
Investing in a whole-home dehumidifier can help make your home more comfortable to be in during the hottest of the summer season. You can enjoy more energy savings by turning up the temperature on your thermostat and even increase the resale value of your home.
By being able to run your cooling system less while remaining comfortable in your home, you can save your system from excessive wear and tear. This can lead to a longer cooling system lifespan. Furthermore, investing in a whole-home dehumidifier is a great way to protect the integrity of your home and belongings from moisture-related damage. You won’t have to worry about unfavorable peeling paint, buckling of wood furniture, or even water damage to your walls or floors.
What’s the Best Relative Humidity Setting?
The best relative indoor humidity setting is going to vary from household to household. However, many experts suggest that you should set your home’s relative indoor humidity level between 30 and 55%. Anything lower and you risk issues like dry skin. Anything higher and you may deal with unwanted mold and mildew growth.
Reliable Humidifier and Dehumidifier Service
KC Home Services offers reliable humidifier and dehumidifier services for the Santa Rosa, CA community. We can also assist with all your cooling and heating services as well as your plumbing, ductless mini-split, indoor air quality, smart thermostat, emergency service, and attic insulation needs. Call our friendly staff today to book your next service consultation.
