While some things are best when they’re dry, your home’s air is not one of them. Dry air in your home can lead to dry skin and can dry out your mucus membranes, leaving you more susceptible to various illnesses.
Therefore, if you have dry air in your home, it’s important to take action to relieve this condition. To help make your home healthier, here are four ways to overcome dry air in your home.
Grow Plants
Plants help improve your indoor air quality in a variety of ways. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful substances and release fresh, pure oxygen.
In addition, plants, through the process of transpiration, can release water vapor into the air in your home. Thus, plants serve as a beautiful and natural way to maintain proper humidity levels in your indoor air. If you are worried about your plants drying out because you live in a dry climate, consider placing them next to a humidifier or misting them daily to provide a little extra moisture in their air.
Add a Humidifier
One of the most direct ways to overcome dry air in your home is to install a whole-home humidifier. A device that humidifies your entire home is more effective than a single-room humidifier because it prevents any single area from becoming too humid, which can lead to mildew growth. Whole-home humidifiers can be added separately or alongside a new AC system installation. If you want to try out individual humidifiers for each room, you can do this before making the commitment of buying a larger unit for your whole home.
Keep it Warmer
If you’ve ever walked outside in the summer only to become drenched with sweat, you can understand the extra humidity that warmer air brings. This occurs because water molecules in warm air move faster than water molecules in cold air and are therefore less likely to condense. Thus, if your home is suffering from dry air, you can try raising the temperature a few degrees to see if that improves the condition.
Open Your Windows
Since one of your air conditioner’s functions is to dehumidify the air, this can result in dry indoor air if you have to run your air conditioner an excessive amount. To quickly overcome this, you can open some windows to allow air that is more humid to enter from outside. Just be sure that the air outside isn’t so warm that your home will become uncomfortable with the windows open. You may want to only open your windows at night, especially if you turn your air conditioner off overnight.
The best way to control your indoor humidity is to use a device that monitors the relative humidity on an ongoing basis. By understanding how different humidity levels feel, you will better understand how to adjust the humidity to maintain optimum comfort. Once you find a level that feels comfortable, you can use various methods mentioned above so that you never again have to suffer from dry air.