Dry air in your home -- typically only a problem during the winter -- can be responsible for an assortment of unpleasant and uncomfortable conditions. It causes itchy skin, scratchy throats and irritated eyes. It can make you feel colder than you should given the room temperature because dry air absorbs moisture from your skin, which produces a cooling effect.
Increased amounts of static electricity throughout your home is another annoyance caused by dry winter air. Static electricity is responsible for that surprising and irritating zap you might feel after walking across a carpet and touching a doorknob or light switch. Static electricity causes clothing to stick to itself and other garments. It can make your hair unruly and unmanageable. It can even let you give that minor shock to someone else. Apart from these annoyances, static electricity can damage electronics such as computers, stereos and other sensitive and valuable devices. An effective way to control static electricity in your home is to ensure your indoor air is adequately humidified. By keeping your home at a relative humidity level of 35 percent or higher, you can substantially reduce the painful little shocks and potential damage to expensive electronics. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air relative to the maximum amount of moisture the air can hold before becoming saturated Install a whole-house humidification system to generate the level of overall humidification you need. These devices can be placed directly into the airflow path of your forced-air heating system. A whole-house humidifier adds moisture by adding minute amounts of water vapor to the air flowing through your heating system. The humidified air is then returned to areas inside your house, where it increases relative humidity. Whole-home humidifiers continually monitor the humidity level in your home, allowing them to keep relative humidity at a consistent beneficial level. For more than 35 years, Russell’s Heating & Cooling has served commercial and residential HVAC customers in the Hampton Roads area. Contact us today for information on the benefits of whole-house humidification and how it can reduce static electricity throughout your home. Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about humidification and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide. Russell’s Heating & Cooling services the Chesapeake, Virginia and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today! Humidifier image via Shutterstock