Humidity is not typically something you worry about in the winter. After all, the air is dry enough you're probably having to use lip balm and lotion to combat it. Why worry about humidity?
It's actually the lack of humidity that may be causing you problems you're not aware of. When the air is too dry, it's not just your skin that suffers. Here are some other areas around your home that are affected by low humidity:
It seems odd, but dry air can cause you to spend more on your energy bills in the winter. When you have two rooms that have different humidity levels but the same set temperature, the room with the higher humidity will feel warmer. This is due to the fact that humid air won't evaporate the moisture off your skin as fast as dry air will. When moisture evaporates off your skin, you feel cooler - just like in the summer when you sweat. You can counteract this natural cooling effect by increasing the humidity in your home. Since it feels warmer, you can lower the temperature on your thermostat with no loss of comfort.
The key to balancing humidity and heat is consistency. Keep the humidity in your home to a set level, usually around 45-55%. The easiest way to do this is to install a whole-house humidifier in your HVAC system. These humidifiers control moisture levels throughout your entire home. For more information about controlling humidity levels in your Hampton Roads area home, contact Russell's Heating & Cooling today. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Chesapeake, Virginia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat and humidity and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 757-750-1831. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “clker-free-vector-images/Pixabay”