HOW DRY ARE YOU?

When you think of dryness, do you picture the arid, windwhipped sands of the Sahara?  The cracked, sun-baked earth of Death Valley?  It might surprise you to know that there are places in this world that are twice as dry as those.  One of the driest places on earth could be your home.  And it's this "desert dryness" that makes you feel uncomfortable, robbing moisture from your home, your furnishings, even your skin.

Relative humidity is the percentage of moisture in the air compared to its maximum capability to hold moisture under the same conditions.  Seventy degree air can hold more than 12 times as much moisture as 10 degree air.  Therefore, outside air at 10 degrees and 70% relative humidity when heated to a comfortable temperature in your home has a relative humidity of just 7%.  Even with the addition of moisture produced by normal household activities such as cooking, laundry, and showers, you will seldom achieve comfortable indoor humidity levels without a whole-house humidifier.

The recommended indoor relative humidity is three to four times the humidity in an average North American home in winter.  If you're not reaching these levels in your home, you could be exposing yourself and your family to the physical aggravations of dryness.  In fact, doctors often mention dry air as one of the causes for nose, throat, and skin discomfort.

Unhumidified, heated air also dries out the wood in your home, shrinking the wood framing around doors and windows. Gaps then occur, allowing cold air in, making your home less energy efficient.  Dry air also causes wood floors and trim to separate, walls and ceilings to crack; it can harm expensive musical instruments and electronic equipment such as computers; dryness even weakens the joints of expensive furnishings.

Air Treatment Heating & Cooling offers a complete range of solutions to this perennial problem.  So contact us for a consultation.