Simple Ways To Manage Humidity Levels In Your Home And Protect Your Health
Humidity — the measure of how much moisture is in the air — can improve indoor air quality in your home, and positively impact your health. For example, viruses, such as, infectious influenza A viruses, become less infectious and weaker in relative humidity levels between 40%-50%, a paper in the peer-reviewed journal, Plos One reveals. In addition to making you less susceptible to viruses, coughs, and colds, healthy humidity levels (between 30%-50%) can also prevent asthma, allergies, and dry skin. As long as you choose the right humidifier, use distilled water, and monitor and adjust humidity levels as needed, you can improve indoor air quality in your home and stay in excellent health.
Use the right humidifier
Humidifiers are either cool mist or warm mist, and both types are equally effective at adding moisture to the air, but have small differences that may make one more suitable than the other for your needs. Cool mist humidifiers, in particular, release room-temperature water into the air. If you want to soothe dry skin and sore throats, these are a good choice, particularly in the winter when heating systems dry out the air and decrease indoor humidity by 10%.
Alternatively, warm mist humidifiers feature an internal heating element that boils water and releases hot steam. The high temperatures can effectively keep bacteria and germs at bay, and also provide warmth in the winter. However, these humidifiers aren’t recommended if you have babies, young children, or pets as they can pose a burn hazard.
If you have a HVAC system, you can also use this to manage humidity levels. However, some homes may use a mini-split system (aka a ductless HVAC system) to cool and heat the home instead of a standard HVAC system. As these systems don’t have ducts, no energy is lost through ductwork, which is a common problem for standard central-forced air systems. “Duct losses can account for more than 30% of energy consumption for air conditioning”, the U.S. Department of Energy reveals. Yet, despite this benefit, mini-split systems don’t actually influence humidity levels in your home. So, if you have this type of system, you still need to invest in an additional humidifier to control humidity levels.
Use clean water
Ideally, distilled water, which is purified water that contains no contaminants and minerals, is best to use in your humidifier. As distilled water is exceptionally pure, it’s unlikely to disperse potentially harmful microorganisms or pathogens into the air. Tap water, on the other hand, although it’s safe for drinking, cooking, and washing, has been found to contain low-levels of microorganisms that may not be safe to inhale, particularly for babies, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, say the CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency. So, if possible, don’t use tap water in your humidifier. Instead, opt for bottled water that’s labeled “distilled”.
Monitor and adjust humidity levels
It’s also important to monitor humidity levels in your home, and adjust them as needed to stay in good health. Fortunately, humidity sensors (also known as hygrometers) make it easy to do this. Similar to wall-mounted home thermostats, these sensors monitor humidity levels and display the reading as a percentage figure. So, if your humidity drops to under 30%, you’ll know to turn up your humidifier. If you or a family member develops a cough or cold, this can also be a sign your humidity levels are too low. Viruses and bacteria tend to spread and become more infectious in low humidity, so it’s all the more important to add moisture to the air in this case.
Or, if your indoor humidity rises to over 50%, turn your humidifier down or off. High humidity levels can also sometimes trigger allergies and hay fever as they’re the ideal conditions for dust mites. So, these health issues can also indicate that you need to remove excess moisture from the air. In addition to adjusting your humidifier, fix any leaky pipes, cracks, and holes around your home. This is another way to stop excess moisture from getting in.
You may not realize it, but the humidity in your home can influence your overall health. By taking steps to maintain optimal humidity levels, you can improve indoor air quality, avoid health issues, and breathe easy year round.
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