As the winter cold strengthens its hold, you may find yourself dealing with excessively dry indoor air. Apart from the common throat and skin irritation, mold growth, rotting, and presence of dust mites, you may find yourself dealing with damaged wood floors and furniture. A whole-home humidifier can balance your homes humidity, alleviating discomfort and dry air-related issues.
1. Use of Heating Systems
Your heating system becomes your ally during the winter season to keep your house warm. Nonetheless, these systems are notorious for removing natural air moisture while heating your home. Whether using radiators, space heaters, or forced air, your homes humidity level will significantly reduce, creating a dry and unpleasant indoor setting.
2. Insufficient Ventilation
Sealing your home correctly will help you save energy during the winter. However, without proper checks, it can also lead to poor air quality. Insufficient ventilation traps indoor dry air, leading to persistently low humidity levels. An energy recovery ventilator can help you maintain sufficient air exchange while ensuring energy efficiency.
3. The Winter Itself (Cold Weather)
Youll notice that your dry air issues worsen during the winter. This is because the winters cold air has a lower moisture content than warm air. Thus, as the temperature drops, so does your homes relative humidity. Your heating systems further exacerbate the issues by actively removing air, creating a remarkably dry environment.
4. Air Leakages
Your dry air environment could also be attributed to air leakages. Even for a well-insulated home, you may have weaknesses around your doors and windows, causing outside air to infiltrate your home. These weak spots could welcome cold and dry air entering your space during winter. The constant influx of this drier area could affect your homes humidity level balance.
5. Your Appliances
Some household appliances, including clothes dryers, fireplaces, and gas stoves, could affect your homes humidity levels. While some appliances can increase your homes humidity levels, others absorb this moisture when switched on. Excessive use of such appliances and improper ventilation could increase your indoor environments overall dryness.
6. Some Indoor Plants
Indoor plants can increase your homes aesthetic appeal besides purifying the air. Nevertheless, they can affect your indoor air quality negatively. Undoubtedly, plants release moisture through transpiration; thus, people assume they increase humidity. However, the impact of transpiration is limited to the plants immediate vicinity. Therefore, some plants can create a high humidity microclimate when confined to a particular space. Other plants, on the other hand, such as those having hairs or waxy leaves, can lower humidity, causing dry air.
7. Overusing Your Dehumidifier
Getting a dehumidifier can be a life-changing solution if you live in an area prone to high humidity. These devices draw moisture from the air, cool it to condense the vapor, and then release drier air into the environment. When you use your device excessively or fail to monitor it, it will lead to unintended consequences. It may inadvertently lower the humidity to uncomfortably lower levels.
8. Having Household Materials That Absorb Moisture
Some household materials have moisture-absorbing capability and may lead to dry air. For instance, drywall, mostly used for ceilings and walls, is highly absorbent due to its porous nature. Additionally, certain flooring materials, especially those made from hardwood, can take in and release moisture. While their effect may not be profound, when coupled with issues such as inadequate ventilation, they can cause dry air.
9. Living in High Altitude Areas
Although altitude’s effect on indoor air quality is inherent and beyond your control, it is critical to address it. Homes situated in higher altitudes experience low levels of humidity. This is because a lower atmospheric pressure allows quicker evaporation of moisture, leading to dry air.
In addition, during the cold winter months, when the moisture-holding capacity of air decreases, you might face additional hurdles in maintaining sufficient humidity.
Work With the Professionals
If youre dealing with dry air, Markool Heating & Cooling in Frederick, MD can help you solve it with our whole-home humidifiers. We also offer HVAC installation and maintenance as well as plumbing and commercial services. Our highly talented and NATE-certified technicians will address all your cooling and heating needs. Call Markool Heating & Cooling today to learn more about our services.
