House humidifiers are a helpful home accessory, particularly in winter. During summer in our Georgia climate, humidity’s not in short supply. However, cold winter air doesn’t hold water vapor effectively.  As outside temperatures drop, therefore, the air’s noticeably dryer both outdoors and indoors.

What’s Up With Dry Air?

Dry indoor air triggers a variety of potential physical symptoms: dry skin, eye irritation, nasal reactions, scratchy throat and aggravated allergies. Transmission of contagious viruses including colds and flu is also more efficient in dry conditions. Even those annoying winter zaps of static electricity inside the house are related to low water vapor.

Not only your body feels the effects of low humidity. Even the house is affected. Chronic dry air inside shrinks and splinters hardwood flooring, causes plaster and paint to flake and may damage artwork, sensitive electronics and musical instruments.

The Whole House Solution

You can’t do anything about seasonal changes in outdoor climate. However, the indoor environment is controllable with the right technology. That’s where whole house humidifiers play a role in making winter more comfortable and healthy.  Here’s how the unit works:

Unlike single room humidifiers, whole house humidifiers are installed inside the ductwork of your central HVAC system and disperse water vapor directly into the airflow that circulates throughout your entire home. Connected to a water line linked to your household water system, whole house models are available in two types:

• Reservoir systems utilize an absorbent drum that picks up water from a pan as it rotates, dispersing water vapor into the system airflow.
• Flow-through units direct airflow through a continuously-moistened evaporator pad to add humidity to the air.

A whole house humidifier is controlled by a digital humidistat mounted on a wall in the house—just like your HVAC thermostat. Residents can input a desired relative humidity setting and the humidistat will activate and deactivate the humidifier as necessary to maintain that precise setting at all times.

For more about the benefits of whole house humidifiers, contact the indoor air quality experts at Powers Heating & Air.