We are no strangers to high humidity during the summertime. But humidity serves several purposes, things you may not see until you don’t have enough moisture in your home. One of these purposes is maintaining the heat in your home. The best way to tell if a lack of humidity is making your home feel chilly is when the thermostat reads the right temperature but you are still cold. Why? We’ll discuss this more below.
Forced Air
Forced air systems can heat very quickly, but air is a poor medium to retain heat. First, heat rises, so that warm air blowing into your home will first rise to the top of any room. Second, warm air always seeks cold air, so if there are parts of your home that are chillier than other, the air will move toward those places. Forced warm air also dries the air out, so you’ll feel this with dry eyes and noses and itchy skin. The solution? Adding moisture to your indoor air.
Why Does Moisture Matter?
The reason excess humidity feels so sticky during the summer months is that humidity holds heat – the exact opposite of what you want during the summer months. But it does the same thing during the winter months indoors, which is one of the reasons you want to have enough humidity in your home. Otherwise, you may find yourself pushing the thermostat higher and higher even though the temperature is actually accurate. A second reason is your immune system. When your mucous membranes (eyes, nose and throat) are too dry, they can’t successfully fight off germs. As such, you may find yourself becoming sick more often.
A whole home humidifier installed by the indoor air quality pros from DB Heating & Cooling, Inc., can alleviate these problems in your Wyckoff, NJ home, so just give us a call.