If you’re one of those people who dreads winter or any dry spell just because your throat and sinuses get so agitated from the dry air at home, then you should look into purchasing a humidifier. It’s essential for anyone looking for answers about how to improve air quality in the home and get rid of that annoying dry cough you’ve had for months.
Here are just a few of the benefits of getting your very own humidifier in the home and how and why they should be maintained on a regular basis. Read these and breathe easy!
You Can Prevent Illnesses With A Humidifier
We all know it’s uncomfortable when your indoor air is bone-dry, but did you know that low humidity in the home can also lead to health problems? Low humidity problems, like the aggravation of existing conditions such as asthma or allergies, can also often be coupled by respiratory infections and persistent coughs.
A Humidifier Can Help You Reach The Ideal Indoor Humidity
What most people don’t realize is that there’s an ideal indoor humidity level that we should all be trying to reach to live our healthiest lives. The standard for healthy living and for the prevention of illnesses that arise from low humidity in the home is maintaining an indoor humidity level around 50%.
In the wintertime, it’s slightly lower at around 30%-40% to prevent condensation and excess moisture turning into ice. Part of the reason why many people swear by humidifiers is that they can help you maintain this relative humidity. It’s as simple as adjusting a few settings and you’ll be good to go no matter what the season.
Clean The Humidifier Regularly
To make sure that your humidifier lives up to its reputation as an indoor air quality product, you’ve got to make sure it’s clean enough to do its job. A huge key to humidifier maintenance is actually cleaning it regularly. How to clean your humidifier will depend on the type of humidifier in your home.
Humidifiers added to a central system: For humidifiers added to a central system, cleaning only needs to be done annually and a water softening system should be used to remove calcification.
Stand-alone humidifier: For stand-alone humidifiers however, cleaning needs to be done much more frequently – every 3-7 days. Mixing a solution of white vinegar and warm water is a good organic disinfectant that will clear out any scale or bacteria that’s been building up in your stand-alone humidifier. Using distilled water is also essential. It stops the growth of damaging calcium scale and bacteria in the machine. If you forget this, then your stand-alone humidifier might fail to operate or worse, spread harmful bacteria into the air.
These are just a few simple ways how to improve air quality when you get a humidifier. There’s really no going wrong when you purchase something that’s sure to help you and your family live happy and healthy lives at home.
