Adding a humidifier to your home may be necessary for some circumstances, but how are you supposed to know when you should be using one? A humidifier can make you feel more comfortable in your home, helping to alleviate dry skin, some cold symptoms, and respiratory symptoms.
Here’s how to tell when you may need to add a humidifier into your home.
Symptoms of Low Humidity
If you’re experiencing symptoms related to low humidity levels, you may want to invest in a humidifier for your home. Dry air can lead to a variety of different symptoms, such as:
- Dry skin
- Itchy eyes
- Irritated nasal passages
- Bloody nose
- Itchy throat
- Aggravated symptoms of the common cold or other respiratory issues
If you raise the humidity levels in your home, you may notice a drop in these symptoms or total improvement overall. You’ll need to raise your humidity level quite a bit, a marginal rise won’t have the same benefits or effects on your symptoms.
How to Measure Humidity Levels
In a home environment, your humidity levels should be anywhere between 30 and 50 percent, although the best percentage is stated to be 35% by multiple sources. Anywhere below 30% is considered to be uncomfortably dry while levels that are higher than 50% can promote mold and bacterial growth. You may find that your symptoms are also aggravated by a humidity level that’s too high.
You can measure humidity by purchasing a hygrometer. With the use of a hygrometer and your humidifier, you should be able to achieve optimal humidity levels without your house.
Options for Adding Humidity
There are many different types of humidifiers that you can purchase for your home, including:
- Cool mist humidifiers
- Evaporators
- Whole-house humidifiers
- Electric vaporizers
- Impeller humidifiers
Depending on what you’re using your humidifier for, you may want to choose a different type. For example, if you want to raise the humidity in your entire house, a whole-house humidifier would be more useful. If you want to raise the humidity in one room, if someone is sick, you might want to try a cool-mist humidifier.
Humidifiers that have large tanks are also often better for large spaces, as they tend to fill rooms much faster and for much longer periods of time. A small room would do just fine with a small tank, so you don’t over-humidify your room on accident.
Think About Your Home
When purchasing a humidifier, you also want to keep your home in mind. If you have wood floors, they may shrink up during the dry months, so you might want to invest in a humidifier for your home that will keep your floors looking nice and new all year round.
You also want to keep in mind that humidity can do some damage, so keep it away from expensive art and pictures that you don’t want to get damaged.
You can also use humidity to help your plants survive longer. Using humidity with your plants can allow them to live longer and become more vibrant and green.
Choosing a Humidifier
There are so many different humidifiers on the market that it might be hard for you to choose which one you want for your home, but there are a few things you can keep in mind that will help you choose.
Keep in mind the size of the room you want to humidify, how long you want the humidifier to be able to run, and how often you want to have to refill it. Are you looking for a fancier option with settings and timers, or would a constant stream be just fine?
No matter what, we hope you find the humidifier that fits your needs so you can enjoy its many benefits.