Simple Ways to Raise your Home Humidity

Are you preparing for the arrival of dry winter air in your home? Here are a few simple steps to keep your home humidity at the right level all year-round.

What is the ideal humidity level for your home here in Michigan in the winter? Our research indicates that a relative indoor humidity of 40 to 60 percent is most desirable for health and comfort.

Considering that you spend most of your free time in the house, keeping that space warm and comfortable is certainly important. But many people ignore the humidity levels in their homes and other indoor locations that they spend the majority of their time in the winter months. The good news is that achieving optimal humidity isn’t that hard with some common-sense steps, many of which don’t cost anything.

This article fills you in on how to keep your home correctly humidified for you and your family. After all, improving indoor air quality is what Davison Heating & Cooling has been all about for over 20 years.

Before we get started on the solutions, understand that allowing your humidity to fall too low can have an adverse impact on several things in your home and for your family. Studies have found that improper humidity can hurt your health and make you more likely to endure an unnecessary illness. Did you know that every year, American adults suffer an average of 2-3 illnesses?

Low humidity can also result in damage to your furniture and wood trim inside your home. Wood dries out and can become warped.

So let’s look at several simple solutions so that your home enters the Comfort Zone.

1. Consider a Whole-Home Humidifier

Certainly, the best method to improve and maintain the right humidity level in your home is to invest in a whole-house humidifier. We recommend the Bryant Preferred line of humidity solutions. The largest system, which works in conjunction with your home’s heating system, is a Bryant Preferred Steam Series humidifier. It can produce a whopping 34 gallons of vapor output a day!

Next up in the Bryant line is a fan-based humidifier, which can add 18 gallons of moisture to your home’s air. Most common, we recommend a bypass humidifier, which uses your furnace’s fan to flow the air through a wet filter. These types of humidifiers average 12 to 17 gallons of added moisture each day.

All are manufactured by one of the best names in the heating business, Bryant, an American company that has been around since 1904. We are proud to be licensed and certified Bryant dealers.

2. Invest in a Portable Humidifier

Another way to improve home humidity is to invest in a portable humidifier. A humidifier is a simple device and requires that you add water to it while it is being used, and it converts that water into a cool vapor. The device increases humidity within a room or the surrounding area, depending on its size.

3. Lower the Heat

All homes with any heating system run the risk of low humidity in the winter. This is because the heat produced by all heating units increases evaporation, which makes indoor air dry out quicker. However, this situation can affect the quality of air in your house. You can read more on how to improve air quality here.

If you want to slow down this process, the best way is to turn your thermostat down. The higher the heat, the more the furnace runs, and the drier the air becomes – without you taking steps to add moisture back into the air.

4. Hang Your Laundry Indoors

Your Grandmother was right. One of the best ways to increase home humidity in your house is to put newly washed clothes inside your house. If you have been putting your washed clothes in a dryer, you add to the dry air in your home.

Putting your newly washed clothes indoors adds a small amount of moisture to the room. Consider an indoor drying rack. Drying racks are inexpensive, so you can save on energy while adding moisture back into the air.

5. Boil Water When at Home

Many people were raised in homes with boiling pots of water or tea kettles on the stove. Once your pot boils, it will take time to cool down, which allows for additional steam. When done safely and monitored, this approach can be used as a make-shift humidifier for your house.

The steam produced by boiling water works through the house and helps increase the humidity in the room.

6. Plug the Drain and Leave Little Water Running

We all know that water is the key to maintaining proper moisture balance in your home? Plugging in the drain and leaving the water to run for a while will help keep your home humidified.

You could also consider keeping the doors to the bathroom open when taking a bath or shower and keeping the bathroom exhaust fan off. This will also add much-needed moisture to your home in the winter months. Many people in past generations would leave water in a filled bathtub well after the bath was over for this very reason.

7. Keep Bowls of Water Register

One of the best ways to keep your home humidified is to keep bowls of water on the register or above the heat vents. You can place the water on either metal or ceramic bowls full of water on the heat registers.

It would surprise you how much water is releasable will evaporate into your home’s air.

8. Keep Vases in Sunny Open Spaces

Lastly, fresh-cut flowers in vases with water and house plants are another way to add moisture to the air. When the sunshine begins to evaporate the water on the flowers, the surrounding air will benefit. You can use water-filled vases on sunny window sills. The evaporating moisture will keep the room moisturized and enhance humidification.

Ensure Home Humidity With These Tips

In these winter months, it essential that you consider the correct humidity levels in your home. The right level of humidity helps improve the air quality in your home.

Need some help with improving the air quality in your home? Welcome to the Comfort Zone. For more than two decades, Davison Heating & Colling is our area’s top-rated and most trusted HVAC contractor. We can help by just giving us a call.