Humidity Control with a Whole House Humidifier

Drier than Death Valley

The relative humidity of a home with forced air gas heat on a cold day can be 10% or less. Considering the average relative humidity reading in Death Valley, California, is about 25%, that means your home could be your own private desert.

The higher you turn the heat, the drier the air gets inside your home. That sets off a series of events. Your throat dries out and gets sore. Mucous membranes crack, giving germs a straight shot into the bloodstream.

Hardwood floors dry out and begin to creak, and wooden furniture gets loose and wobbly. Worse yet, it costs more to heat your home, and it always feels cooler than what the thermostat says.

Can a Whole House Humidifier Fix These Problems?

• Static electricity
• Dry skin
• Sore, dry throat
• Cracks in wood furniture, floors, cabinets and paint
• Damage to musical instruments (pianos, guitars, violins)
• Peeling wallpaper

Absolutely!

These are classic symptoms of too-dry air inside the home. All heating and air conditioning systems have an air filtration system to remove solid particles, but those do nothing to address humidity in the air. For that you need an air humidifier.

Aprilaire for Air Fresh as a Spring Morning

The solution? A whole house humidifier solves all these problems by putting moisture in the air throughout your home, keeping you and the furnishings in your home healthier. The difference is astonishing.

Berkeys recommends Aprilaire® central humidifiers, installed in the heating system, especially if you have:

• Hardwood floors
• Wooden, leather or laminated furniture
• Piano or other wooden instruments
• Hanging tapestries or expensive rugs
• Sinus problems
• High heating bills

What About Room Air Humidifiers?

Room air humidifiers, which add moisture to the air in a single room, must be sized right for the room. Too much capacity can lead to mold or mildew, as well as fogged windows. Too small a humidifier will result in inadequate coverage.

Because air circulates throughout your home all the time, air that is moistened in a bedroom with a room air humidifier gets moved around and diluted as it mixes with drier air in the rest of your home.

A whole house humidifier delivers uniform humidity throughout your home. A humidistat senses humidity in the same fashion a thermostat measures temperatures. The humidistat controls the flow of water to the humidifier (and you never have to worry about filling it up with water). 

How Whole House Air Humidifiers Work

An Aprilaire whole house humidifier puts measured moisture into the air as it comes from the heating chamber. Water is fed into a distribution tray that drips it into a water panel. The panel, more than an inch thick, is made of multiple sheets of slit and expanded aluminum, shown here.

As the water runs down through the aluminum grill, a fan blows it into the warm air stream, where it is absorbed and distributed throughout your home. Any excess water is collected at the bottom of the water panel and deposited in a drain pipe.

No need to breathe unhealthy, dry air in your home. Call us at 877-237-5397 to find out more about Aprilaire whole house humidifier systems, or contact us online.