As the temperature of the air outside changes with the seasons, relative humidity level changes as well. In the summer, your air conditioner dehumidifies your home, and a separate dehumidifier can be beneficial as well. The opposite is required in the winter when the indoor air becomes bone-dry. Furnaces don’t come with humidifiers, so a whole-house humidifier may be required to keep you comfortable this winter.

Symptoms too-dry air include chapped lips, dry skin, sore throat, static electricity shocks, and greater chance of becoming ill. A central humidifier addresses these issues by providing you with the ideal indoor humidity all winter long.

The most comfortable level to set your humidistat is between about 35 and 55 percent relative humidity. This is the range when bacteria and viruses can’t live as long and annoying static shock is minimized.

However, the precise level you choose depends on the temperature outside. If the temperature drops outside and you keep the indoor humidity set too high, condensation will form on the windows. This moisture will drip down onto the window frame and rot the wood, leading to mold growth and structural damage.

Avoid this scenario by decreasing the relative humidity indoors as the outdoor temperatures decline. Above 40 degrees outside, set your humidistat to between 45 and 55 percent. At 32 degrees, don’t set it higher than 40 percent. Twenty degrees outside should be coupled with 35 percent relative humidity inside. At this point, every 10 degrees the temperature drops outside, decrease the relative humidity inside by 5 percent.

For more information about using a whole-house humidifier to achieve ideal relative humidity all year long, please contact Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning. We serve Connecticut homeowners.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about relative humidity and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

 

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