Central Air Humidifiers Can Solve Your Winter Dry Air Problem

Arizona’s dry air in winter can have serious effects on your overall health. Indoor pollutants circulating through your heating system combined with low humidity can result in irritated eyes, nose, and throat, and dry, scaly, itchy skin. Breathing in dry air can also cause or worsen the symptoms of people with conditions like asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis. You can even get nosebleeds! Other dry air problems include static electricity (zap!), snoring, and chapped lips. If you or family members experience more frequent respiratory infections and illnesses from dry winter air, consider installing a central air humidifier.

Installing a Central Air Humidifier

Air circulating through your home furnace travels through a filter designed to trap dust and allergens in the air. Still, these filters can’t capture everything, and they don’t add moisture to the air. That’s why air pollution in our homes can be 2-5 times higher than outside! The main culprits?

  • Fuel-Burning Appliances
  • Tobacco Products
  • Building Materials
  • Household Cleaning Products
  • HVAC Devices
  • Moisture and/or Mold
  • Outdoor Air Pollution Sources

It’s best to keep the indoor humidity measurement between 35-65 percent. Too much moisture in the air can create a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and mildew. Installing a central air humidifier is an excellent alternative to using portable humidifiers. First, a central air humidifier is more efficient than using portable humidifiers. It’s designed to treat all the air in your home and can be calibrated to add just the right amount of moisture to your home’s air. 

Portable humidifiers only add moisture to the air in the immediate area around the mobile unit. Don’t forget, portable humidifiers can also become germ factories if they’re not cleaned often enough, and filters aren’t changed regularly. Yuck.

The most common type of central humidifier forces heated air from your furnace through a wet pad or disk to add moisture. Wet element humidifiers are typically installed on the warm-air plenum that’s connected to the ductwork. Other types of central humidifiers use a bypass pipe or attach to an air duct leading out of the plenum. Your HVAC professional can recommend the right model for your home.

Additional Options For Improving Dry Winter Air in Your Home

Adding humidity plants can help ease the effects of dry air in your home year-round. If you’re not sure what qualifies as a “humidity plant,” don’t worry. You can learn more about humidity plants by clicking the link above.

Now that you know how to fix dry winter air by having a central air humidifier installed let’s learn how to reduce the number of allergens floating around! While it’s impossible to eliminate all the allergens inside your home, you can reduce the exposure to them by making some simple changes. Here are some tips to improve the general air quality inside your home.

  • Keep your home clean. A clean house is a healthier house with less pet dander, mold, dust, and other pollutants circulating in the air.
  • Clear away any clutter that can trap and hold dust. 
  • Vacuum carpets and area rugs once or twice a week with a vacuum cleaner equipped with a HEPA filter. 
  • Regularly clean bedding, drapes, pillows, and other items that tend to attract allergens, especially if you have pets. 
  • Use dust mite-proof covers on pillows, mattresses, and box springs.
  • Changing your HVAC filters regularly can help ensure dust, dander, and other airborne irritants are trapped instead of recirculated throughout your home.
  • Have your air ducts professionally cleaned at least every three years. 
  • Ensure that all bathrooms are well ventilated. Scrub away any visible mold that collects in the shower, on fixtures, or walls.
  • Let the fresh air in – open the windows whenever you can.
  • Use ventilation fans in the kitchen to remove cooking fumes.
  • Installing hard-surface flooring instead of carpeting can also help cut down on allergens in the home.
  • Using an air purifier can also improve the quality of the air in your home, especially for those suffering from allergies.