Low humidity may be to blame if you’ve been dealing with dry skin, chapped lips, or a persistent cough. Dry indoor air is a common issue, especially during the winter months in Anoka, MN when cold outdoor temperatures and indoor heating systems can significantly reduce indoor humidity levels. However, low humidity isn’t limited to the winter. It can be a year-round concern in many homes. A whole-home humidifier helps restore moisture to the air, creating a more comfortable living environment and offering a range of benefits for your health, your home, and even your furnishings.
At Liberty Comfort Systems, we offer professional testing to determine your home’s current humidity levels and provide expert installation of whole-home humidifiers when needed. Before deciding whether a humidifier is right for your home, it’s helpful to understand the full range of benefits they provide.
Better Health
Dry indoor air can take a noticeable toll on your health, especially if you or your family members suffer from allergies, asthma, or recurring seasonal illnesses. When humidity levels drop too low, the protective mucous membranes in your nose and throat dry out, making it easier for viruses and bacteria to enter your body. This increases your risk of catching colds, the flu, and other seasonal ailments.
Dry air can also intensify allergy symptoms by irritating nasal passages and making your respiratory system more sensitive to dust, pollen, and pet dander. For those with asthma, low humidity can be a trigger, worsening symptoms like wheezing and shortness of breath. Even if you’re generally healthy, dry air may cause nosebleeds, sinus headaches, or a persistent scratchy throat.
A whole-home humidifier helps by keeping your home at the ideal indoor humidity level, between 30% and 50%, to relieve these symptoms and support your body’s natural defenses. By keeping your home’s air moisturized, you can create a more comfortable indoor environment that promotes long-term health.
Improved Skin and Hair Health
When humidity levels are too low, moisture is pulled from the surface of your skin, leading to tightness, flaking, and itchiness. The areas most often affected include your face, lips, hands, and feet, which are already more exposed and prone to dryness. Your hair can also suffer in dry conditions, becoming brittle, frizzy, or flat.
While applying lotion, lip balm, and conditioner can help provide temporary relief, they don’t address the root cause. Many of these products rely on petroleum-based ingredients or silicones that form a surface barrier rather than truly hydrating your skin or hair. In dry environments, this can result in buildup, irritation, or reliance on these products.
A whole-home humidifier offers a better long-term solution by maintaining an ideal humidity level throughout your home. Instead of constantly reacting to dryness with questionable remedies, a humidifier supports your skin and hair’s natural moisture balance.
Better Sleep
Sleeping in a room with dry air can interfere with your ability to get deep, uninterrupted rest. Even if you fall asleep easily, you may wake up feeling unrested without realizing why. One common culprit is snoring, which can become more intense when the air lacks moisture. Dry air can cause inflammation that narrows your airway, leading to noisy, disrupted breathing while sleeping.
Over time, minor symptoms of dry air, like snoring, can significantly affect your sleep quality. A home humidifier helps by maintaining a more comfortable humidity level at night, which keeps your airways better lubricated and reduces the irritation that contributes to snoring and nighttime wake-ups.
Furniture Conservation
Just as dry air can affect your skin, it can also cause lasting damage to the furniture and decor in your home. Wood is sensitive to low humidity. Without enough moisture in the air, it can shrink, crack, or warp. These issues often show up in trim, cabinetry, and furniture.
Other things in your home are adversely affected, too. Paint on canvas art pieces may begin to crack, photographs and posters can curl, and wallpaper may peel away from the walls. Additionally, musical instruments like pianos and guitars are especially vulnerable to dry conditions.
A whole-home humidifier can help prevent these problems by keeping the air at a stable, healthy moisture level. The added humidity helps protect your belongings and maintain the overall condition of your home.
Home Structure Protection
Dry air can do some damage to the structure of homes in Anoka as well, affecting wood flooring and other wooden parts of your house in a similar way that it affects furniture. For instance, your floorboards might buckle, or the low humidity could cause gaps or splits. If your home has a wood frame, there could be shifts in walls, windows, and door frames that make windows and doors harder to open and close.
Reduced Static Electricity
If you get a little electric shock when you touch someone else in your household or from a door knob, dry air has increased the levels of static electricity in your home. And there’s more to that static discharge than just an uncomfortable shock or a startled pet. Static electricity isn’t good for your electronics either. Too much dry air can damage sensitive computer, TV, and laptop components. Keeping the moisture in the air balanced with a humidifier can help protect your expensive electronics.
Improved Energy Efficiency
Humidity plays an important role in how warm or cool a space feels. Just as a humid summer day can feel hotter than the actual temperature, increased indoor humidity during the winter can make your home feel warmer. When your home’s air holds more moisture, it retains heat more effectively and feels more comfortable overall.
As a result, you may be able to turn the thermostat down a few degrees without sacrificing comfort. Over time, this can lead to noticeable savings on your energy bills, making a humidifier not only a comfort upgrade but also a smart investment in energy efficiency.
Better Than a Portable Humidifier
You may be wondering why you should have a whole-home humidifier installed rather than just buying a portable one. A portable humidifier only covers a small area. Additionally, it requires more hands-on care, including the need to fill it with water regularly. They are also noisy and take up space.
Alternatively, a whole-home humidifier is integrated into your HVAC system, so it is quieter and hidden away. A professional will connect it to your home’s plumbing, so you will never have to refill the water reservoir. A whole-home model also treats the air in your entire house, so you do not have to deal with the hassle of moving it around as you do with the portable version.
Contact Your Local Professionals
At Liberty Comfort Systems, we have served the residents of Anoka, MN and the surrounding areas for years. We install whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers so you can keep your home at the ideal humidity level. We can also help with all your other indoor quality needs, including installing an air purification system and improving your house’s ventilation. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced technicians.
