Every season when the temperature drops, so do the indoor humidity levels. The dry winter season air can play havoc with everyone in the home in many ways and can cause numerous health problems. Not only does the cold winter air naturally not contain the same moisture level as summer air, but turning on the furnace can exacerbate the problem.

How Dry Winter Air Can Cause Health Issues

From small annoyances like harmless little nosebleeds to larger problems like chronic sore throats, a lot of issues can develop over the months because of a lack of moisture in the air. Some of the most common health issues include:

  • Burst blood capillaries in the nose
  • Chronic coughing
  • Chronic sore throats, especially in the morning
  • Cracked, dry skin that can bleed

In addition, due to a lack of moisture, air quality suffers, and static electricity can become a big problem. While it’s not typically harmful, you can really get or give a good zap every time you touch someone or something in the house! Another annoyance for many people is overly dry, staticky, out-of-control hair.

Finally, the overly dry air robs the moisture from the wood framing around your windows, floors, and doors. This can allow cold air to sneak into your home, making it less comfortable and inefficient.

The big problems really come into play because when your body, which is 70% water, is being dried out, it can be more susceptible to contracting illnesses like influenza and colds. In addition, people get dehydrated quicker and more easily, making anyone feel colder during these months than they already are!

Combat the Dryness with Home Humidifiers

Did you know that low humidity also affects your heating and cooling system? As you know, when humidity levels drop during the winter, the relative humidity indoors also drops. This makes your home feel colder than it actually is.

In turn, your furnace or heat pump is going to need to work much harder, costing you a lot more money on your energy bills. After all the fuss, it still may not feel cozy or warm indoors!

If humidity levels fall below 50%, even an indoor temperature of 77 degrees can feel chilly! When this happens, the apparent temperature in your home, which is how warm it actually feels, will remain too low for comfort.

Using humidifiers is the best way to deal with these issues, and you don’t have to have whole-house humidifiers installed, either. You can also improve your home’s comfort and climate with portable humidifiers.

Adding moisture to the air will help raise the relative humidity above 50%, making your home feel much warmer. The end result will be a more efficient home that is cozy and comfortable without tasking your HVAC system with running constantly trying to combat cold, dry air.

Don’t Disregard Your HVAC System

Even if you have humidifiers running in your home during the winter, and your HVAC system doesn’t have to work quite so hard to maintain the temperature in your home, that doesn’t mean that you can ignore your furnace or leave it to just “do its thing” all winter.

It’s vital that you have our experts come out at least once per year to perform preventative maintenance on your system. That way, you’ll be able to rest all winter long, knowing that it’s running at its best. You will decrease the chances of experiencing sudden breakdowns and will also catch small issues before they become giant problems.

 

Contact our team at A-1 Guaranteed Heating & Air, Inc. today to schedule an appointment for your annual tune-up!