How is the air in winter different from the air in the summer? For starters, winter air tends to be colder than summer air. You most likely run your furnace or another heating system throughout the winter months to keep your house at a warm, comfortable temperature.
Temperature is only one factor that influences the comfort level of your home, though. The moisture content of the air in your home also affects your overall comfort. As the temperature drops, so does the humidity level. While it can be nice to have a reprieve from the 80 or 90% humidity that can be common in the summer, when the air becomes too dry, it can create issues as well.
Do you need a humidifier in the winter? The answer might be yes. Learn more about the factors that make the winter air dry, how to know if you need a humidifier and the benefits of using a humidifier throughout the winter.
Why Is Winter Air So Dry?
Cold air holds less moisture than warm air, meaning the air is naturally drier in the wintertime. The dry air around you makes your skin, nose and eyes drier, as moisture gets pulled from them quickly.
When you use your furnace to warm your home, you are increasing the temperature of the air indoors but not the humidity level. The air might feel warmer, but it is also much drier than the air is during the summer, as you are not also adding moisture to it.
Although you do want to find ways to humidify the air in your home during winter, such as by using a humidifier, it is important not to go overboard. Too much moisture in the air can cause problems, such as mold growth and rot. An ideal target to aim for when using a humidifier at home is a relative humidity between 40 and 50%.
How Does Dry Winter Air Affect Your Body?
Dry air in the winter can make you pretty uncomfortable. It can also have long-lasting effects on your health. Some of the health effects of prolonged exposure to dry air include:
- Dry nasal passages: Cold, dry air can cause your nasal passages to dry out. While that might not seem like such a big deal, when you have dry nasal passages, you have a higher risk of developing respiratory illnesses. Your nose is usually lined with mucus, which is thick and sticky and designed to trap dust particles, viruses and other germs when you breathe them in. If you have less mucus or dry mucus, those germs can make their way into your throat, sinuses or lungs, making you more likely to get a cold or experience other respiratory illnesses. Having dry nasal passages also increases your risk of having nose bleeds.
- Dehydration: Dry winter air also makes you more likely to become dehydrated. When you inhale and exhale in a setting with low humidity, you lose fluids from your body. Since there is not an adequate amount of moisture in the air to help replace those fluids, you can become dehydrated much faster. Should you break a sweat in the winter, the dry air can cause the sweat to evaporate more quickly, which can also lead to quicker dehydration. You might not notice thirst as much either when it is cold and dry, which can make it challenging to stay properly hydrated.
- Dry skin: Dry air can also make your skin drier and can affect the barrier function of your skin. When you do not have a moisture barrier surrounding your skin, it can become more prone to irritation and to allergic reactions.
- Eye irritation: Just as staring at a monitor screen all day can make your eyes dry out and become irritated, so can living in a home with dry indoor air. Dry air can affect the tear film, which protects your eyes from damage. It can also cause the skin around your eyes to become drier, making fine lines, such as crow’s feet, more visible.
8 Benefits of Using a Humidifier in the Winter
Using a humidifier for the winter can help you physically and can also help your home. One way to know if you need a humidifier is to ask yourself if you or anyone else in your home has to deal with dry skin, allergies, snoring or ongoing respiratory problems. If the answer is yes, using a humidifier can help. Take a look at a few of the benefits of using one throughout the winter season.
1. It Can Help You Get a Better Night’s Sleep
People snore for a variety of reasons, but one cause of snoring is dry air. Dry air can make your nasal passages drier, which can interfere with the flow of air through them as you sleep. Increasing the humidity in your bedroom can make you (or your partner) less likely to snore, meaning you both end up getting a better night’s sleep.
2. You Might Get Sick Less Often
When you are regularly breathing in dry air, your nasal passages become drier, and the mucus in them dries out. Without that mucus barrier, viruses, bacteria and other germs can make their way into your respiratory system, making you more prone to colds, the flu and other respiratory illnesses.
When there is adequate moisture in the air, your nasal passages will have the right amount of mucus to trap germs and prevent them from making you sick. As a result, you are likely to experience fewer colds and illnesses throughout the winter.
Humidity also does more than improve your body’s defenses against viruses and other infectious agents. It also seems to affect the infectious agents themselves. When humidity is higher, viruses tend to remain infectious for shorter periods. That means if someone coughs or sneezes in a room with humidity around 40%, the virus will have much less time to spread and make others sick compared to a room with humidity around 20%.
Should you end up getting sick, using a humidifier can make the experience a bit more comfortable. When there is adequate moisture in your nasal passages, any congestion in your nose and throat can be alleviated more quickly. You might find it easier to breathe or blow your nose. You might also notice that you recover more quickly from colds and other illnesses.
3. It Can Help Alleviate Dry Skin Conditions
If dry, itchy skin is a regular occurrence for you in the winter, low humidity levels can be partly to blame. Using a humidifier will help increase the moisture in the air, and your skin can absorb that moisture. A humidifier can also help your skincare products, such as lotions and serums, work more effectively, as the skin can absorb them better when the air is more humid.
When your skin gets the moisture it needs, it is less prone to cracking or irritation. Fine lines and wrinkles are also less visible on hydrated skin.
Humidifying the air in your home can make your hair and nails look and feel better as well. Just like your skin, the hair and nails can dry out, becoming brittle and more prone to breakage. When you give them adequate moisture, they are likely to be healthier-looking and stronger.
4. You Might Have Fewer Allergy Symptoms
Using a humidifier in the winter can help you experience fewer allergy symptoms, up to a point. If you use a humidifier, it is important that you not make your home too humid, as some allergens, such as dust mites, actually thrive in humid conditions.
Aiming for a relative humidity of around 40% can keep your nasal passages from becoming too dry, reducing the chance that allergens such as dust or pet dander will irritate your airway and trigger allergy symptoms.
5. It Can Help Your Home Feel More Comfortable
Temperature is not the only factor that determines home comfort. When the interior of your home is 70 degrees and the humidity is 20%, the air will feel colder compared to when the temperature is 70 degrees and the humidity is 40%. Using a humidifier in certain rooms of your house can make those rooms more comfortable to be in. Increasing the humidity to about 40% can also improve the indoor air quality in your house.
6. Your Home Will Be Less Likely to Suffer Damage
Using a humidifier in the winter can also help protect your home and its furnishings. If your home is too dry, certain materials, such as wood, are more likely to become damaged. Wood needs a certain amount of moisture. Otherwise, it will dry out and become brittle. Wood furniture and flooring can crack or break when the air is too dry.
Overly dry air can also cause door or window frames to warp or shift, loosening the seals or making it more difficult to open and close doors and windows. When doors and windows don’t fully close, air can seep in and out of your home, causing your HVAC system to work harder.
Dry air can also damage works of art, such as paintings, as well as musical instruments. If you have plants at home, many varieties need adequate humidity levels to keep their leaves green and to prevent them from withering.
7. It Can Help You Breathe Easier
Dry air can irritate your airways, making it uncomfortable to breathe. When you are constantly breathing in air with inadequate moisture, you are more likely to develop a cough. People with asthma are also likely to experience symptoms in a dry environment. As with allergies, the right amount of humidity can help ease asthma symptoms and can make it easier to breathe.
8. You Will Not Get “Zapped” When You Cross the Room
If you have ever walked across a carpeted room, touched a doorknob and gotten a little shock, then you have seen static electricity in action. Static electricity also makes your hair stand on edge when you run a brush or comb through and causes pieces of your laundry to stick together or sound crinkly.
Zaps aside, static electricity can seem relatively harmless. There are some risks to it, though. If the charge created by static electricity is strong enough, it can cause considerable physical harm and pain. Static electricity can also cause dust to build up on surfaces, making it more difficult to keep your home clean. Increasing the humidity in your home can help to dispel some of the electrostatic energy, reducing the risk of “zaps,” static cling and dust build-up.
What Season Do You Need a Humidifier and How Can You Choose One?
Since air tends to be drier in the winter, that is usually the ideal time to use a humidifier in your home. When choosing a humidifier, there are a few things to keep in mind, including the size of the area you are planning on humidifying. If you would like to humidify your entire home, it can make sense to choose an HVAC system with a central humidifier built-in.
If you are not due for an HVAC replacement just yet, using room humidifiers can be a cost-effective choice. A room humidifier only adds moisture to the room you are using it in, so it can be a good option if you do not use every room in your house all at once.
You are likely to see humidifiers marketed as warm-mist, cool-mist or ultrasonic. Those terms refer to the temperature of the water that is turned into vapor and to the size of the vapor droplets. At the end of the day, which option you choose does not make much of a difference.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Humidifier
As with any appliance in your home, taking care of your humidifier will help you get the most use and enjoyment from it. How you care for a humidifier depends on if it is a central model or a room model. Room humidifiers typically need to be filled up with water regularly. Since tap water can cause mineral deposits to build up, try to use distilled water. If you do use tap water, you might have to descale your humidifier from time to time with distilled white vinegar.
A centralized humidifier is likely to have a filter that needs to be replaced every so often. Usually, it is a good idea to replace the filter every month, or as recommended by the manufacturer.
Also, keep a close eye on the humidity levels in your home. If the level creeps above 40-50%, run the humidifier less often. Use a hygrometer to measure the relative humidity in your home.
SMO Energy Can Help You Keep Your Home Comfortable This Winter
Increasing indoor humidity can improve your home’s indoor air quality and help you and your loved ones stay warm throughout the colder months of the year. SMO Energy can help you keep your home as healthy and comfortable as possible all winter long. Contact us today to schedule a free energy consultation and learn more about what you can do to increase your home’s energy efficiency and total comfort.