Dry air is not just limited to one season. Whether it be summer or winter, we get exposed to both natural and artificial dry air. Primary effects of dry air are cracked lips, dry membranes and dry skin. If exposed to dry air while sleeping, it may result into sleepless and uncomfortable nights. Young children are often found to be suffering from a bloody nose during dry winters. Indoor air quality drops due to loss of humidity. So what can you do about it?
Let us check out various ways to humidify the house and how it can be done:
- Let the dry air stay away from you
When cold air enters your home, it reduces relative humidity to a great extent. Make sure you take care of the main sources of dry air in the house like cracks, furnace vent stacks, basement, fireplace chimney etc. Regular checks and repairs will improve humidity in the house. Apart from this, avoid using too much of thermostat in the house. Wearing woolen garments is much better than going for hot, dry and artificial air that will only make you sick. Wearing a sweater will also save you decent amount of money.
- Humidify air with your stove top
Using a stove top as a humidifier is a great idea. Stove top cooking disperses moisture, in the form of vapor, in the air. This compensates the humidity lost by using the oven. Try to use the stove top as much as possible to humidify the air as this technique is considered to be one of the most effective ones for humidification.
- Make use of potted houseplants
Houseplants add a great deal of aesthetic elements to your house interiors. But did you know that they help in restoring the humidity in the air? Place potted houseplants inside the house. Due to the transpiration process, continuous moisture is exhaled by the plants, which helps in replenishing lost moisture.
- Radiators as humidifiers
As a simple technique, place water-filled vessels like kettles, pots or pans on radiators, hot air registers or heating ducts. Due to the continuous heat, water turns into vapor and fixes dry air. You can even put water-filled vessels all over your house. Do not forget to check the containers regularly, clean them and refill whenever necessary.
- Dry your clothes indoors
As a normal practice, we tend to put clothes outside in the open for drying. Try putting them inside the house for drying. It will effectively increase humidity in the house. Install hang lines inside the house or use hangers for hanging your wet clothes. The moisture in wet clothes will naturally humidify the home.
- Go for a humidifier
When all natural techniques fail, the option of getting a humidifier is the best. Humidifiers are the devices that release vapor through steaming process and help increase the humidity of the air. You can choose to have either a cool mist or a warm humidifier. They come in different shapes and sizes. You can go for small, table-top unit or a big one with the larger capacity to hold water. Check features like operational noise level, refilling convenience, moisture control output and so on. Do not forget to compare the prices and installation charges.
About Author: Dan McKee is Digital Marketing Manager at Service Champions. He blogs about home improvement and maintenance in his spare time.
