Living in Georgia means spending the majority of the year battling against humidity. The idea of adding moisture back into our homes can feel counter-intuitive. But this thing about your home comfort is that you want to balance your moisture levels in your home’s air rather than having air that is completely dry. in fact, dry air can be just as damaging to your comfort as overly humid air can.
When you are struggling with your home heating in Duluth, GA, you may want to see if overly dry air is the source of the problem. Let us explain why dry air that is too dry can be a big problem for your home’s warmth and how we can help you fix the issue.
Dry vs. Humid Air: What is the Impact on Your Comfort?
It is important to understand why high and low levels of moisture in your home can have such a big impact on your home comfort. High or low humidity can affect your comfort in different ways at different times in the year. Here’s a brief explanation of how this works:
- High humidity makes it harder to get cool. You have probably encountered this fact multiple times living around here. High moisture levels in the air make it hard to cool down because heat holds onto heat for a longer amount of time. It also makes it harder for your body to vent heat through sweat, making you feel hotter. High humidity can also increase the growth of mold or mildew in the house which is never a good thing.
- Dry air makes it harder to warm up. On the other side of the spectrum, dry air can be enjoyable in summer but less than pleasant in the wintertime. Why? Because dry air is going to make it harder for you to warm up. With low moisture in the air, it is more of an effort to heat your home and to make you feel warm. What’s more, dry air can dry out your hair and skin and can leave you more prone to illnesses.
Achieving the Ideal Moisture Levels Indoors
So, what sort of balance should you be trying to achieve when it comes to your home comfort? The ideal level of moisture that you want in your home’s air is going to be between 30-50%. Not too dry, not too humid, just right!
You can’t get to this level of humidity on your own sometimes. On those days when the air is overly dry, it may be time to consider the addition of an indoor air quality system to help. Specifically, you may want to consider adding a whole-house humidifier to your HVAC system.
Whole-house humidifiers are systems that a professional technician can install into your home’s ductwork. From there, they can adjust the level of moisture in the air. This can help to address overly dry air and the negative side effects it can bring. By improving your humidity levels in your home in winter, you can ensure that you enjoy better comfort levels too.
Contact American Comfort Heating and Cooling to help boost your indoor air quality and improve your home comfort. Bringing Comfort to America, One Home at a Time.
