Benefits of Home Humidifiers

Indoor air naturally becomes drier during Northern Colorado’s chilly winters. This is because your furnace strips away what little moisture is in the air, making your home feel completely arid. Humidifiers are an effective way to counteract dry indoor air. Any form of humidification helps, but a whole-home humidifier is the most effective option. Learn the many benefits of home humidifiers and what sets them apart from portable units.

7 Benefits of Humidifiers

Not sure if putting in a humidifier is worth it? Here are seven reasons to add more humidity to your Fort Collins home this winter.

1. Get Over Colds Faster: No one likes being sick, but cold and flu season arrives every winter without fail. Microscopic bacteria and viruses thrive at lower humidity levels in part because less water vapor hinders their movement through the air. Then, dry nasal passages make it easier for germs to reach your lungs, where an infection can take hold. Increasing indoor humidity dramatically reduces the presence of airborne bacteria and viruses. If you do catch a cold or the flu, you’re more likely to get well faster because your immune system gets a boost in more humid environments.
2. Prevent Dry Skin: If this isn’t your first winter in Northern Colorado, you’re probably familiar with the itchy skin, chapped lips, and bloody noses that always return this time of year. Running a humidifier prevents these uncomfortable symptoms, helping your skin, lips, and nasal passages stay moist and healthy.
3. Ease Asthma & Allergy Symptoms: Too little humidity irritates your nose and throat, worsening your asthma and allergy symptoms. Adding moisture to the air soothes your airways, making conditions like dry throat, runny nose, coughing, and sinus congestion less pronounced. However, it’s important to add the right amount of humidity, as too much moisture could allow allergens like mold and dust mites to thrive. Aim to keep indoor humidity between 30 and 50 percent for the best results.
4. Sleep Better & Snore Less: Low humidity dries out your soft palate, throat, and nasal passages. This dryness, coupled with increased congestion and allergy symptoms caused by low humidity, triggers snoring or makes it worse. Adding moisture to the air cuts down on snoring and helps you sleep more comfortably, making you less likely to wake up with a parched throat.
5. Make Your Home Feel Warmer: You may worry about the cost of operating a whole-house humidifier, but it can actually save you money! After all, humid air feels warmer because it’s already saturated with moisture, causing less water to evaporate from your skin. Evaporation has a cooling effect, so limiting it allows you to turn down the temperature by a degree or two without feeling uncomfortable. The resulting energy savings more than make up for the cost of running an energy-efficient humidifier.
6. Reduce Static Buildup: There is nothing more annoying than getting shocked every time you touch a light switch or door knob in the winter, except perhaps the clothes that stick to your body and hair that stands on end as a result of static electricity. You might even accidentally short out your computer or create dangerous sparks with the static buildup in your body. Properly humidified air reduces static shock so you can avoid these adverse situations.
7. Protect Your Wood Belongings: Dry air affects your comfort level because your body has such high water content. As an organic material, wood also responds to low humidity by drying, shrinking, and cracking. This means dry indoor air could loosen your floorboards, prevent wood doors from shutting tightly, and make your piano go out of tune. When used properly, a humidifier keeps the wood belongings in your home looking and functioning at their best.

Whole-Home Humidifiers vs. Portable Humidifiers

When you want to add humidity to your indoor air, you may assume a portable tabletop unit is the way to go. However, while this is a quick, inexpensive fix for a single room, a whole-home humidifier is far superior. Here’s why:

• Even Humidity Level: As the name suggests, whole-home humidifiers add moisture to the air throughout the house. They do this by attaching to the HVAC system, so every time your furnace runs, so does the humidifier.
• Built-in Hygrometer: While most portable humidifiers don’t measure the humidity level, whole-home units have a built-in hygrometer. Set this to the relative humidity you want, knowing that the ideal level is 30 to 50 percent, and let the humidifier take it from there.
• Clean and Mold-Free: Portable humidifiers are notorious for harboring bacteria and mold growth and must be deep cleaned regularly to avoid this. On the other hand, whole-house units remain clean and mold-free, with simple maintenance only required at the start and end of the winter season.
• Energy-Efficient Operation: Accounting for the amount of humidity they add to the air, whole-home humidifiers are much more energy-efficient than tabletop models.
• No Need to Refill: You must regularly refill a portable humidifier with distilled water to keep it running, a hassle that significantly increases the unit’s operating costs. In comparison, whole-home humidifiers hook directly into the plumbing system, so you never have to refill them.
• Long Lifespan: The average portable humidifier lasts three to five years. On the other hand, whole-home models easily last 10 years or more, with readily available replacement parts that extend their lifespan even further. This makes the upfront investment in a whole-home humidifier far more cost-effective in the long run.

Install a Humidifier in Your Fort Collins Home

If you’re ready to maximize the benefits of home humidifiers, turn to Allen Service for a top-quality installation. We’ll help you prioritize indoor air quality by offering efficient and affordable solutions like whole-home humidification, filtration, and purification. Let us assess your existing HVAC system and recommend improvements to boost your family’s health and comfort all winter long. To schedule a home humidifier installation estimate in Fort Collins, please call us at 970-672-1660 or contact us online.