Dry air in your home can cause sore throats, itchy eyes, dry skin, tingling in the sinus area and sometimes even furniture damage. Winter months are particularly notorious for causing low humidity because cold air holds relatively less moisture than hot air.
In addition to this naturally low humidity, the low ambient temperatures will prompt you to turn on the heater and depending on the heater you use, the problem could be worsened by burning out the little moisture that existed in the air.
The solution to all this is a simple device known as a humidifier. It ensures that the air in your home has just enough moisture to avoid all the adverse effects of dry air. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that owning one of these devices will bring:
Health Benefits
Our bodies will be the first to react to low humidity in the home. With that in mind, they will be the biggest beneficiaries of healthy levels of humidity in the home. Here are some health benefits that come with having a humidifier around:
Prevent Sinus Irritation
If you suffer from sinus infections frequently, the cause could be breathing air with too low humidity. Dry air irritates the sinuses and the result is inflammations that are usually painful. Having a humidifier to rectify the humidity will ensure that your sinuses are moist, hence no irritation, and certainly no sinus pain when breathing!
Reduce Snoring
The main cause of snoring is a dry throat. Breathing air that is too dry is one of the most common causes of a dry throat. A humidifier will reduce this dryness by ensuring that you breathe moist air, and this will keep your throat and nasal passages moist and lubricated enough to prevent snoring.
Keep Skin Moisturized
Do you get chapped lips and cracked or dry hands? This could be caused by your skin losing moisture to the environment because the air in your home is too dry. A humidifier will ease the discomfort caused by dry skin and keep your skin soft, hydrated and moisturized all day long.
Alleviate Cold and Asthma Symptoms
Problems like asthma and the common cold cause inflammation in the respiratory system. Breathing cold, dry air worsens the discomfort because it further irritates the already inflamed parts of the system. A humidifier will add moisture to the air, thus ensuring that the entire respiratory system is kept moist. Some humidifiers even come with a special medicine cup that can be used to vaporize asthma medicine hence reducing the likelihood of suffering an attack.
Reduce Itchy Eyes
Your eyes will be quick to react to low humidity. You will fell some itchiness and irritation, something close to what you feel when you stay for long periods without blinking. This is because your eyes need a layer of moisture for lubrication as you blink. When the air around you is dry, this layer of moisture tends to dry up faster, hence the itch. You will also feel the need to blink more often because of this irritation. A humidifier ensures that your eyes are kept moist for longer, hence the tendency to itch is reduced.
Benefits to Your Home
In addition to the above health benefits, humidifiers also have the following benefits to your home:
Preserve Wooden Items
Wood cracks when it is too dry. This is what happens to wooden parts on your furniture, musical instruments and even integral parts of the structure of your home. A simple humidifier will save you from having to incur expensive repair costs as a result of structural damage caused by excessive dryness.
Wall and Décor Protection
Wallpaper and paint are affected very much by the humidity in your home. If the air is too dry, the wallpaper will tend to peel off, resulting in undesirable appearances from something that should be enhancing the appearance. Wall paint and artwork will last longer when the humidity is kept at an optimum level.
Lower Heating Costs
Moist air generally retains more heat than dry air. As a result, by keeping the environment in your home humid, you will also be ensuring that the air stays warmer for longer. This means that your heating costs will be reduced significantly just by ensuring optimum levels of humidity. Hot mist humidifiers also contribute to keeping your home warm because they release warm moisture that also heats the environment.
Humidifiers are safe and energy efficient devices that bring many benefits to your home. Most homes need a humidifier especially for use in winter when the air is driest. There are a number of different types of humidifiers but they all basically achieve the same result: to make your home the safe and comfortable haven it should be.
