A healthy home requires clean, fresh indoor air. For Mobile homeowners, this involves more than just changing the HVAC filters regularly and installing an air purifier.
Humidifiers also play a key role in creating high-quality indoor air. Maintaining optimal humidity levels has a beneficial effect on health and can reduce annual heating costs.
You can easily measure indoor humidity with a hygrometer. Also called a humidity meter, this inexpensive gadget can tell you exactly what your indoor humidity level is. You can purchase a hygrometer at any drug store or a supercenter like Walmart. A healthy humidity level should between 35 and 50 percent, but for those living along the Gulf Coast, winter humidity levels are often as low as 5-15 percent.
Because humid air feels warmer than dry air, adding moisture to your living space in winter will give you greater indoor comfort, and you’ll also pay less for heat. When moisture evaporates, air feels colder. During the winter, it’s natural to turn up the thermostat when this happens, thereby increasing energy usage and jacking up utility bills. When you add moisture to the air instead, you’ll feel warmer at a lower temperature, and your energy costs will decrease as a result.
What Does Humidity Have to do With Indoor Air Quality?
Low humidity levels mean dry air. Dry air can be responsible for a variety of physical symptoms such as:
- Sore throat
- Itchy, flaking skin
- Cracked, dry lips and hands
- Dry nasal passages
- Sinus problems and sinusitis
How Does Indoor Humidity Improve Air Quality?
Many airborne pollutants such as dust mites thrive in a dry environment. When you add moisture to the air, it gives these contaminants less space in which to circulate.
How Do Indoor Humidity Levels Affect Health?
There are a variety of health benefits that come with proper humidity levels. Here are just a few:
- Sinuses stay healthier, especially for those with sinusitis and congestion
- Reduces the potential for nosebleeds
- Helps those suffering from colds and asthma by lubricating nasal passages
- Can eliminate snoring caused by a dry throat
- Helps skin to stay moisturized and reduces dryness on hands and lips
- Helps nose hairs to trap bacteria and viruses that cause colds and flu
- Reduces nasal, throat and bronchial irritation
- Helps to clear up laryngitis
- Helps those with respiratory problems to breathe easier
Besides keeping your Mobile, AL, home comfortable in winter, reducing energy usage and delivering a variety of health benefits, humidifiers also reduce static electricity and can keep wood surfaces from shrinking, swelling and cracking. To learn more about healthier indoor air, contact the Mobile, AL, air quality experts at Keith Air Conditioning. They’ve been helping homeowners to have greater indoor comfort since 1964, and their air quality testing service can tell you everything you need to know about the state of your indoor air.
