What Are The Benefits of A Whole Home Humidifier?

Indoor air quality services in San Antonio, TX

By maintaining the amount of moisture that is in your San Antonio, TX home, you can enjoy enhanced comfort, healthy indoor air quality, and greater HVAC efficiency. You may currently have a portable humidifier that you use to add moisture back into your dry indoor air. Unfortunately, these units don’t really do much for your home overall. We recommend that you install a whole-home humidifier for better humidity control. There are various benefits associated with this investment.

Boosting Indoor Comfort

If you are living in a residence with very dry air, this can make some areas of your home feel cold and uncomfortable. Air that has a relative humidity level between 35% and 50% feels comfortable, and this is the range you should strive to keep your RH at. Anything over that amount can lead to your home feeling oppressively warm. Dry air feels colder because it transfers heat more quickly and easily than humid air does.

Protecting Your Home

Dry air can harm different aspects of your home like wood flooring, cabinets, furniture, and more. Dry air causes the wood to constrict, which can lead to splintering or gaps between planks and panels. If you’re experiencing fluctuations in humidity, this can cause wood to swell and contract repeatedly, which leads to warping and other forms of damage.

Protecting Your HVAC System

When the air inside your home is dry and feels cold and uncomfortable, you’ll likely turn on your heating equipment more frequently to compensate. This can lead to unnecessary wear and tear on your HVAC system over time. You may find that you are scheduling professional repairs frequently, and routine maintenance may uncover minor issues more often than anticipated. The overall life expectancy of your HVAC equipment could decrease because of the wear caused by dry air, and having to replace it prematurely can be costly.

Something else to consider is the potential damage that can occur to your ductwork. Overuse of your heating equipment can lead to cracks, gaps, and inefficiencies in your ducting. Repairs may be needed to this area of your home in order to protect your indoor air quality and prevent energy loss.

Improving Home Efficiency

When the air inside your home is dry and you’re trying to maintain comfort, this can lead to the use of more energy. That raises your monthly utility bills and increases your carbon footprint. You can support having an efficient home by monitoring your indoor humidity level and adding moisture by using a whole-home humidifier when it is applicable.

Addressing Indoor Air Quality Concerns

Dry air can impact your indoor air quality by irritating your sinuses and making indoor contaminants more likely to impact your health. For example, if your sinuses and airways are already dry and irritated, exposure to volatile organic compounds in your indoor air can lead to headaches, nasal inflammation, and coughing. Whole-home humidification can soothe these areas and keep them healthy so your body can avoid unwanted symptoms.

Reducing Illness

As mentioned, dry air leads to sinus and airway irritation. This can increase your risk of developing an infection or illness. You can help keep yourself and your family healthy by maintaining an indoor relative humidity level between 35% and 50%. This is especially important during cold and flu season. If you do get sick, a healthy indoor humidity level can keep your symptoms from becoming worse.

Healthier Skin and Hair

Dry air causes your skin and hair to feel dry and unhealthy. By adding moisture back into your indoor air, you’ll experience less skin irritation, better hydrated hair, and more.

Different Types of Whole-Home Humidifiers

There are three different kinds of humidifiers that you can use at home. Evaporative humidifiers employ a wick and a fan to add moisture to your indoor air. The process is designed to boost the efficiency of the evaporation process and make your indoor air more comfortable. This technology is used for portable models. A self-contained humidifier uses a fan to circulate moisturized air and is also portable technology.

The type of technology used for whole-home humidification is usually steam-based. A steam humidifier boils water, and the steam produced is then added to the air that passes through your ductwork and on into your living spaces. The device operates on electricity and requires more power than a portable unit. Consequently, this system usually calls for a new breaker to be installed. However, the process is very efficient.

Routine Maintenance Needs

There isn’t much maintenance that is required for a whole-home humidifier. There is typically a filter in the unit that will need to be changed periodically. You’ll want to ensure that the water line for your unit remains clear and free of any sediment or mineral deposits. Otherwise, you run the risk of water damage when a clogged line overflows.

You should schedule a routine inspection of your whole-home humidifier at least once annually. This provides our team with the opportunity to catch any issues that may be occurring with your equipment before you experience a major problem. We can also help you monitor your home’s relative humidity level using a smart thermostat with a hygrometer. This information can be accessed anywhere you are, even if you’re away from home. You can control your humidifier remotely to ensure your home is always safe and comfortable.

Routine maintenance will be necessary to ensure your equipment is working properly. You don’t want mold or mildew forming in your humidifier, HVAC system, or ductwork. It could create a dangerous situation for your health and safety. This is especially true since the mold could easily enter your ductwork and circulate through your residence.

Increasing the Value of Your Home

If you’re planning on selling your home soon, a whole-home humidifier is an investment that can raise the overall value of your property. People like to see these kinds of additions that add to the comfort of the residence they’re considering. It also helps if you can provide documentation that shows you have kept up with professional routine maintenance of your whole-home humidity control equipment.

Convenience of Whole-Home Equipment

Rather than moving a portable humidifier from one room to another based on how you think a room feels, you can reap the benefits of whole-home convenience. Your humidifier will connect to your thermostat, automatically turning on when the level of moisture in your home drops below a preset level. You have control over these settings, so you can customize your indoor air quality preferences.

For assistance with a whole-home humidifier or other relative humidity control issues, Rosenberg Plumbing & Air is available. In addition to indoor air quality devices, we offer a full line of HVAC services, including furnace and air conditioner maintenance, repairs, and new equipment installations. Besides that, we furnish a complete array of plumbing services for San Antonio residents. Count on us for camera inspections, drain clearing, pipe repair, leak detection, septic repairs, slab leak repair, and more. We can also help you clean and fix your ductwork or upgrade your home’s insulation. To schedule a consultation for your indoor air quality, contact us at Rosenberg Plumbing & Air today.

Tags: ,