Without a whole home humidifier, it can be difficult to manage humidity levels indoors during the cold weather season, even if your indoor air is the perfect temperature. The quality of your indoor air is just as important as the temperature!
In this article, we will discuss the benefits of whole house humidifiers, hvac humidifier installation, hvac humidifier maintenance, and more.
1. Automatic Humidity Control with Whole House Humidifiers
Whole home HVAC humidifiers eliminate the need to have portable appliances throughout your home. A properly installed HVAC humidifier will help maintain proper moisture levels indoors despite cold temperatures outside. There are a variety of HVAC humidifiers, such as, evaporative humidifiers and steam humidifiers. Trane humidifiers are a popular option with many of our customers due to their great performance and price point. Using a whole house humidifier can help make your home’s air cleaner, alleviate dry skin and alleviate allergies (such as, nose or chest congestion, dry cough, runny nose, and sore throat).
Additionally, whole house humidifiers help preserve the things stored in your home, as well as your home itself. For example, whole house humidifiers can help preserve wood floors, paint, furniture, artwork, musical instruments, and electronics, simply by maintaining the humidity levels indoors.
With a whole house humidifier, it’s easy to maintain humidity levels with the humidistat that operates similarly to a thermostat, allowing you to set the desired humidity levels in your home!
2. Low Maintenance
If you’re concerned about HVAC humidifier maintenance, rest assured that the maintenance required for a whole house humidifier is minimal. Below, you can watch a video of Larry Cook explaining how to maintain a humidifier. Link: How to Maintain a General Aire Humidifier – YouTube
If you prefer to hire a professional to maintain your humidifier, then you should know that Larry Cook Heating and Cooling offers affordable and comprehensive HVAC maintenance packages that include maintaining our customers’ humidifier, furnace, air conditioner, replacing dirty filters, inspecting safeties, lubricating moving parts, inspection and adjustment of thermostat, and more. If you haven’t invested in an HVAC maintenance plan, keep in mind that most HVAC failures could be prevented if discovered early.
3. Indoor Air Quality
In addition to using humidifiers to help with allergies, humidifiers have also been shown to help with pollutants. For instance, homes that have high humidity levels have an increased likelihood of mold development. Contaminants, such as, bacteria, viruses, animal dander, dust, mites, and pollen can be reduced by controlling the humidity levels indoors. This is notable because many of these contaminants are small enough to be inhaled!
4. Health Benefits of Installing an HVAC Humidifier
Reduces the Spread of Germs
Whole home humidifiers can help protect against sickness. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (“NIOSH”), adjusting indoor humidity levels can reduce flu particles in the air. Specifically, NIOSH found that when humidity levels in an indoor space were set to 23%, 70% to 77% of flu virus particles were able to cause infection an hour after someone coughed. However, by raising the indoor humidity levels to 43%, only 14% of the flu virus particles were able to cause infection. This shows that when indoor humidity levels are properly maintained, flu outbreaks can be minimized.
Relieves Asthma and Allergies
According to Healthline, humidifiers can help reduce allergy symptoms and improve the health of mucous membranes of the airway. Dry itchy throats, nose bleeds, sinus congestion, and runny noses can be helped with a whole house humidifier. Note: It’s important that the humidity levels are set properly in a home because too high or too low humidity levels could cause health issues.
Whole House Humidifiers Can Help with Congestion
Do you suffer from congestion issues? Whole house humidifiers can help relieve congestion symptoms! According to Dr. Andrew Stiehm of Allina Health’s United Lung and Sleep Centre in Saint Paul, Minnesota, humidifiers can “loosen congestion by moistening the nasal passage. When you get sick, the cells lining your respiratory tract generate more mucus” and “when the mucus dries, it can become “sticky” — which makes it hard to blow or cough. Increasing air moisture can make it easier for you to expel the mucus when coughing or blowing your nose, by preventing it from drying,”[1]
Improve Sleep and Decrease Snoring
Because nasal congestion can cause snoring, installing a whole house humidifier could help loosen mucus that blocks the nasal airways.[2] It’s easy to see how indoor comfort is improved with a whole house humidifier given their many benefits!
Best HVAC Humidity Levels
So, what should your humidity levels be maintained at in your home? The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) recommends that the humidity levels in homes be maintained at between 30% and 50% humidity. We’ve found that the most comfortable humidity levels for our customers’ home can vary. For example, a home that has a lot of woodwork would likely prefer a higher humidity level than a home with minimal wood work. In general, most of our customers prefer their humidity levels between 34-40%.
If you are interested in finding the best HVAC humidifier for your home, call Larry Cook Heating and Cooling today. We provide free no-obligation estimates! You can reach us at (316) 322-5668.
[1] https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/5-humidifier-benefits-how-the-portable-device-may-reduce-the-spread-of-germs-and-improve-your-skin/articleshow/79028592.cms
[2] https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/5-humidifier-benefits-how-the-portable-device-may-reduce-the-spread-of-germs-and-improve-your-skin/articleshow/79028592.cms
