It’s not just that winter air is so cold—it’s dry, too! This dry air can leave your skin reddened and cracked, irritate your nose and throat, cause bloody noses, chap your lips, and make your eyes all itchy.
It can even be bad inside your house. Ideally, your home’s indoor humidity should be between 30 and 50 percent, according to the Mayo Clinic. This is easy enough to measure yourself with a hygrometer available at most hardware stores. If you find your home is just a little too dry, it might be time to pull out the humidifier.
Unlike dehumidifiers, which draw moisture out of the air, a humidifier uses water vapor to increase the moisture. Although some homes have a built-in humidifier as part of the HVAC system, most people need to use a portable humidifying unit. When choosing a humidifier, you can opt for either an evaporator, which blows air via a fan through a wet filter or belt to humidify it, or a steam vaporizer, which uses electricity to create steam.
In addition to staving off dry skin, eyes and airways, moister air can help people who are battling cold symptoms that are more likely to strike in winter. Moister air relieves a stuffy nose and will break up mucus so you can cough it up more easily. Even if it won’t cure anything, it will relieve a lot of discomfort!
The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends people opt for a cool-mist humidifier, as warm-mist versions can burn you if you get too close. This is especially important for families using a humidifier around small children.
But there are a few other important points you should keep in mind if you’re running a humidifier in your home.
Be sure to keep the settings no higher than 50 percent humidity and don’t run it for too long, or else you could end up with air that’s too moist and even surfaces in your home that are damp to the touch — which could inevitably lead to mold and mildew.
It’s best to fill your humidifier with distilled water instead of tap water, as the mineral deposits in tap water, when vaporized, can damage the humidifier and potentially leave a white dust on everything in your home.
Even with distilled water, you need to be careful you avoid bacterial growth inside the humidifier. Change the water at least once a day, and be sure to clean the humidifier at least once every three days.
A dirty or ill-maintained humidifier can have the opposite effect of a clean one because dirty or allergen-infested air exacerbates breathing problems, especially in people with asthma or allergies.
Don’t let dry air around the house be the reason you’re feeling less than your best this winter. Make things a little more humid, and your body will be happier for it.
