During the winter in our area, you should already be using your whole house humidifier. Many humidifiers have automatic controls that vary the humidity setting with your indoor temperature setting and the outdoor temperature. What if you don’t have an automatic control? Where should you set the humidistat? Why does it matter?
If the humidity is set too high, you’ll cause sweating on the windows. This is especially true in older homes with windows that aren’t thermally efficient. Sweating windows will cause the wood sills to rot. The same will happen around doors. Plus, a setting too high is an energy and water waste.
Low humidity levels can lead to a long list of issues. Your nasal passages and throat will become irritated. And you may notice members of the household snoring increases. Low humidity levels also have negative consequences for your home. Low humidity levels causes the structure to contract. Doors don’t shut quite right. Windows will leak more. Low humidity levels also promote the spread of germs. Recent studies have found that low humidity levels increase the longevity of flu virus in the air (ABC News).
So, where do you set it? Humans are most comfortable with humidity levels between 35% and 50% in the winter. This amount of moisture in the air will keep your nasal passages moist as well as our skin. It also keeps static discharge from occurring when you walk across the carpet and enough moisture in your furniture and structure to protect them.
Don’t have a humidifier? Give us a call at (812) 280-0510. We’ll be more than happy to provide a proposal for a new humidifier.